The Elemental Gift
by VortexFM
Summary: "His happiness is yours to ensure, his sorrows are yours to mend, his safety will always be your responsibility. And child, if you are to remember one thing, remember this; the Avatar's life is worth so much more than your own." :Pairing not definite:
1. Reawakening

**Title: **The Elemental Gift

**Episode: **The Boy in the Iceberg

**Chapter 1: **Reawakening

**.**

**Author's Note: **Okay, most of my readers will notice that I have re-written these first two chapters of "The Elemental Gift". The reason for this being that when I look back on them and re-read them, the vocabulary sounds childish, and that just won't work. I have a long hard, road planned out for poor little Amaya, and she needs to have a more serious side to her, not just be made up of sarcasm and dry humor.

If any of you object to my decision, I apologize, but this is how it's going to be.

**Disclaimer: **I am able to create and own an international organization based upon 'Chainzawz', misspelling and all, but I can't own one of the things that make me happy (Avatar: The Last Airbender)! What the heck is wrong with the universe? '-_-

**Another Author's Note: **For the first part of this chapter, 'normal type' is present time, and _'italic type' _is the past. Got it? Imagine it's the T.V. show switching back-and-forth with epic background music xD

**.:-:.**

"_Fate, or some mysterious force, can put the finger on you or me, for no good reason at all." _  
**Martin Goldsmith **

**.:-:.  
**

The ice was cold.

_A Flying Bison soared through the maelstrom, the lightning grazed the tip of his horn and sent the animal into a frenzy. He thrashed around in the sky, tossing the passengers on his back to-and-fro. _

So very cold.

"_Aang! Appa!" The girl, one of the two in the saddle, screamed; trying to grab hold of the reins once __more as her friend was almost thrown into the sea. "NO!" _

The crystalline water droplets were frozen in the blood and lungs of it's prisoners, preventing even the shortest breath.

_But it was all in vain, for just as she grasped the leather, the Great Bison known as Appa plunged into the icy depths of the ocean and took the Air Nomads with him. _

A boy sat zen style, suspended in the center of the glacier, with his two fists held together at the knuckles.

_The boy, who was younger than his companion, tried to pull Appa out of water. "Amaya!" He called out to the girl, "Amaya! I need help!" but try as he might, she would not respond. _

The arrow tattoos that covered them glowed a faint blue, his eyes did the same.

_Amaya had already fallen beneath the waves and was slowly loosing consciousness, she called out to Aang as he drifted down towards her, but the only sound that came was a faint, bubbling gurgle. _

A girl stood behind him, her eyes fully opened and shining a vibrant gold; her hands lay on the sides of the boy's head, slender fingers were the only skin of hers to be touching his face.

_As the two friends fell into the pits of death and their eyes drifted closed, they then shot back open in perfect unison. Amaya's shone gold, while Aang's radiated an ethereal blue. _

Almost as if she was giving him her energy, her spirit.

_Aang__ pou__nded his fists together at the knuckles, sending a shock wave out around Amaya, Appa, and himself; ice began to encase them, but stopped half-way. _

The boy's face looked wise beyond his years, filled with rage and power.

_So Amaya placed her finger tips across his temples, infusing her Bending with Aang's, completing the iceberg that froze them in time. _

The girl's expression mirrored those emotions.

_For a hundred years they would be there; sitting on the seabed; frozen and forgotten, never to be seen again. _

Until now.

**.:-:.**

A girl and her older brother stood in the middle of an ice field, their raft was nothing more than a small chunk of the surrounding glaciers. The girl looked to be about fourteen and was clad all in blue; her brunette hair was pulled into a braid, leaving two loops hanging to the sides of her face; and the dark skin of her complexion helped in making her large blue eyes pop from her features.

She seemed to be in a heated argument with the boy, her screams echoed over the waters and could almost be hears all the way back at their village. "You are the most sexist, immature, nut brained idiot in all of the South Pole!"

Behind her, a humongous iceberg was affected by her outbursts; her Waterbending, fueled by emotion, caused a fracture in the glacier.

_**Cra-ack...**_

The girl, oblivious to the split in the ice, continued with her rant. "Ugh, I'm embarrassed to be _related_ to you! Ever since Mom died I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing _soldier_!"

The fracture in the icecap was met with a bigger one as her rampage went on.

_**Craa-ACK!**_

"Uh... Katara?" The boy tried to get the attention of the younger girl, his voice held a nervous twinge. He was also draped completely in blue clothing; his head was shaved, save for a wolf's tail that covered only the top-middle section of his scalp; and he grasped a spear, as if to protect himself from the growing cracks in the berg

But Katara was adamant, she threw her arms up and just kept on yelling. "I even wash all the clothes! Sokka, have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, _NOT _PLEASANT!"

"Katara!" The boy, Sokka, cried frantically. "Settle down!"

"No, that's it!" She continued, ignoring her brother once again. "I'm done helping you. From now on, you're on your _own_!"

With that Katara gave a feral scream and slammed her arms down to her sides, this last outburst connected all of the fractures in the glacier and split it open entirely.

_**CRAA-ACK! **_

The iceberg then disintegrated and all the major pieces fell into the water, sending a giant wave towards the siblings and caused them to hold on to the raft-sized chunk of ice for dear life as it sent them back along the river.

Sokka lifted his head up cautiously once the tidal-wave had died down. "Okay, you've gone from weird to _freakish_, Katara." He said patronizingly, slowly recovering from the shock his sister's Bending.

"You mean _I _did that?" The girl looked up at the floating debris that had taken the glaciers place in wonder.

"Yup." Her brother continued in the same sarcastic tone. "Congratulations."

Suddenly the water directly in front of the duo started to glow an incandescent blue, they scuttled backwards on their ice-pan as another, circular and lighter colored iceberg broke the surface. It was unclear whether it was part of the one Katara destroyed or not.

As the new iceberg settled, the girl rose from her crouching position and walked over to edge of the icecap raft to get a better look at the strange berg. Deep inside the sphere, there was a figure of a boy in a meditation stance along with a girl who stood behind him, her fingers on his temples. While the boy had blue arrow tattoos on the backs of his hands and his bald head; the girl's skin appeared to be free of markings and she had a full head of hair.

Then, without warning, the boy's tattoos and eyes shone a brilliant blue; and the girl's eyes glowed gold, but the colours appeared translucent because of the ice.

"They're alive!" Katara told Sokka, amazed that people could be kept alive in a sphere of frozen water. "We have to help!" She then grabbed her brother's club, pulled down her hood, and ran towards the two frozen kids.

"Katara! Get back here!" Sokka yelled to his sister, a protective tang to his words. "We don't know what those things are!"

She ignored him and hopped across a series of smaller ice-pans until she reached the iceberg, Katara then began to whack the globe as hard as she could.

After a few good hits to the glacier it cracked half-way open and it looked as if the center of it was filled with air as it _'hissed'_, releasing the pressurized gasses.

It then exploded from top to bottom, breaking the rest of the way open and causing a enormous shaft of blue-gold light to be shot up to the heavens, a nearby heard of Tiger-Seals reared themselves up to roar at the phenomenon.

**.:-:.**

An iron hulled battleship with a spiked prow cut through the sea close-by, it's steam powered engines caused a steady plume of smoke to be exuded from a single chimney; and because of the chimney's position, the foredeck was much longer than the after-deck. The bridge was several levels above the main deck, where a teenaged boy and an old man were situated.

The boy's face, illuminated by the unearthly light show, was horribly scarred around his left eye; his scalp was clean shaven, except for a long ponytail coming from the crown of his head; and he was robed completely in red battle gear.

Then the beam of light dissipated, sending shadows dancing across the young man's features.

"Finally," He whispered hoarsely, excitement clearly resonating in his voice as he turned to face the other man on deck. "Uncle, do you realize what this means?"

The elderly man sat cross-legged in-front of a low table, nursing a cup of tea and thoroughly engrossed in a game of Pai Sho. He looks up from the tiles and asks inquisitively. "I won't get to finish my game?"

"It means my search-," The boy continued, appearing not to have heard his Uncle as he answered his own question, relief and malice lilting in the words. "It's about to come to an end."

The old man groaned, not wanting his nephew to head down the same path once more.

"That light came from an incredibly powerful source!" The aforementioned boy raised his voice enthusiastically, turning to face his Uncle and gestured at the spot where the glow disappeared. "It _has _to be him!"

"Or it's just the celestial lights." The old man said exasperatedly, once again trying to convince the boy to stop chasing empty leads. "We've been down this road before, Prince Zuko. I don't want you to get too excited over nothing. Please, sit. Why don't you enjoy a cup of calming jasmine tea?" He patted the space beside him and lifted his own tea-cup from the table.

"I don't need any calming tea!" The young Prince snapped angrily. "I need to capture the Avatar. Helmsman," He yelled towards the tower behind him. "Head a course for the light!"

**.:-:.**

Sokka was still shielding his sister from the blast that just emanated from the strange berg. The two of them then looked up to see residual blue light still swirling around the top of the remaining glacier chunks, the ray dimmed and suddenly, the boy and girl appeared, their eyes and his arrow markings still aglow.

"Stop!" Sokka commanded as he thrust his spear towards the strange, levitating children.

As if following the older boy's orders, the remaining light around the mysterious duo faded and the girl drifted out of sight while the boy floated down the side of the ruined icecap. Katara ran forward and caught him carefully, then held him gently in her arms.

Her brother, still suspicious of the child, walked up beside him and proceeded to poke him in the head with the blunt end of his weapon.

"Stop it!" Katara told Sokka scornfully, turning the strange boy over so when she set him on the snowy ground he would lie on his back.

As she did just that, he slowly began to wake up, he opened his bleary eyes half-way and looked up at Katara; to him, she looked beautiful in the lighting, but after blushing faintly he then whispered weakly. "I-I need to ask you something."

"What?" The Water-Tribe girl asked him softly.

"P-please," The boy stuttered. "Come closer."

Katara was concerned now, wondering if he could be injured or something of the sort. "What is it?"

Suddenly, the child's eyes brightened and he continued with a loud, exited voice. "Will you go penguin sledding with me?"

That confused her, as well as her brother, but she answered anyway. "Uh...,sure. I guess."

Then, just as suddenly, the boy manipulated the air around him and gracefully rose to his feet, without moving a muscle.

"Uuwah!" Sokka cried, stepping backwards in astonishment.

"What's going on here?" The boy asked, rubbing the back of his head in bewilderment.

"You tell us!" The eldest sibling exclaimed, going on the offense. "How did you get in the ice! And why aren't you frozen?" He finished by poking the boy with his spear, again.

Said boy waved the sharp, pointy end away absentmindedly. "I'm not sure."

"Well," Katara continued the barrage of questions, cocking her head to the side in curiosity. "Then what about that girl who was with you?"

It was the boy's turn to be confused then, he raised an eyebrow and answered with a quizzical glance to his surroundings. "What girl?"

But just before Sokka could question him further, an animalistic groan sounded over the ridge of the iceberg.

The boy gasped in response and quickly scrambled up the side of the berg, ignoring the fact that his fingers were going numb from the cold. Then, when he reached the lip of the ice, he bent the air and floated down the ledge.

Lying in the center of what was now a crater, was a ten ton Sky-Bison, with a saddle on his back stocked with supplies.

"Appa!" The boy cried, Airbending onto the large mammals head. "Are you alright?" Then, prying one of the beast's eyes open, said. "Wake up, buddy."

He then attempted to heave the animal's mouth open, to which the furry creature became fully awake and licked the child completely off of the ground.

"Hey hea, you're okay!" The boy laughed, hugging the brute's giant nose.

Sokka led Katara around the side of the broken glacier, then gave the bison a skeptical look and asked. "What is _that _thing?"

The orange-clad child turned to face the Water-Tribe boy, "This is Appa," He walked closer to the two siblings, a smile on his innocent face. "My flying bison."

"_Right_," Sokka continued, his tone incredulous, then gestured to his sister. "And this is Katara, my flying sister."

But just as the boy was about to reply, the Sky-Bison began to sneeze, the boy then ducked, leaving Sokka to get covered in the large globs of mucous.

"Eeeww! Aaahhggg!" The warrior exclaimed, rubbing his body on the ground in attempt to remove the foul substance.

"Don't worr-" The mysterious child started, but was suddenly cut off by the unexpected voice of a girl.

"Don't worry," A girl who appeared to be fourteen or fifteen; dark amber hair pulled into a plait down her back, a skin tone lost somewhere between olive and tan, with strangely coloured eyes stepped from the shadows, smirking at the startled looks on the other kids' faces. "It'll wash out."


	2. The Mark of the Shoari

**Title: **The Elemental Gift

**Episode: **The Boy in the Iceberg

**Chapter 2: **The Mark of the Shoari

**Author's Note: **Oh, hello thar! Well, I had more free-time than I thought I would today, so I give to you the next installment of _"The Elemental Gift"_

I hope you enjoy ^_^

**Disclaimer: **I get it already! I don't own it! Geez, I never thought that the government took Avatar:TLA so seriously. Wait? IT'S REAL! OMG! Well, I'll definitely get it now!

**Song of The Chapter: **Be My Escape; Artist- Relient K

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"_Innocent bird in a cage of ice, she lives her life as the Spirits dictate, though never shall she be permitted to look upon the world she protects."_

**Goddess-of-Sugar**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_**~The Girl's P.O.V.~**_

When I first woke up, I was blissfully unaware.

To my sleep-dazed mind, I was just a normal girl who had no spiritual bonds, no otherworldly responsibilities. Just a child whose mind was slowly filling with hope.

For the first time in a long while, I was happy because of me.

Soon though, my fantasy was shattered along with those hopeful urges; I had sat up and looked down at my right hand.

Now, what's so special about a hand you might ask, it's just another appendage, so why is it so important?

On ones hand, you expect to just see one unmarred tone; but instead of clear skin, a thin, swirling vine of roan twirled it's way from the palm of my hand, up my arm, twisting around my back where a large design spread out to all parts of my body, and followed one such road to finally settle in a delicate pattern about my left eye.

It was then when I remembered who I was, and who I was with.

"Aang." I whispered, my heart clouded in a steady growing panic and I began to freak out.

He was so innocent, so fragile. What if I had lost him? What if we were separated when our Spirits were activated?

It was then that I turned austere; I stood up with the lightest of air bursts and mapped out my surroundings.

I was standing in what seemed to be the center of an iceberg; it appeared to have once been spherical, but the top was now blown off.

Appa was laying directly in-front of me and just as I placed a hand gently on his tail, I heard voices coming from around the great Sky Bison. Cautiously, I peered out from behind him and saw Aang along with two other children.

"_Why do you call them children as if you aren't one yourself?" _

I mentally waved away the voice of my conscience as I continued to survey the area; I heard a girl's voice along with a boy's, they seemed to be adolescent and the slight, almost unnoticeable lilts in the speech suggested that I was in the Southern Regions. So that, along with all of the ice, made it clear that we were in the South Pole.

But then I heard Aang's distinctive mumble and waves of relief crashed down onto my heart; if I had lost him, I would have never forgiven myself.

Just as I was about to go over to him, my serious side long buried; I felt Appa tremble and then let out a sneeze, which when I peered around him, I found had sprayed the Water-Tribe boy with his bison snot.

I covered my mouth as to muffle a giggle that was about to escape, I knew exactly what Aang was going to say to the teenager and wanted to make my entrance then.

The boy was draped all in blue, as was the girl, and wore his hair in a warrior's wolf-tail, his skin was a nice dark/tan colour.

His, sister... I guessed, was shorter than he was and had her hair held up in a stylized braid, she had blue eyes like the boy with the identical complexion.

The look on their faces would be _priceless_.

Slowly, I started to tip-toe around the wisent to get into position for my 'Big Entrance', I sometimes overreact.

"Don't worr-" Aang began, but I cut him off, there was my chance.

I walked out from behind the beast and completed his sentence. "Don't worry, it'll wash out."

Three pairs of shocked eyes stared back at me in disbelief, they didn't look away for long enough that I could feel a blush rise up my neck.

But I waited for at least one of them to look away first.

"_**One of the first rules of Earthbending; always stand your ground."**_

Those stupid rules had been engrained so deeply into my psyche that I attributed them to everyday life subconsciously.

I decided that, since the two Water-Tribe kids were of no immediate threat, it would be alright to look at them normally; without evaluating their mindset and lives.

The boy was tall; taller than I was and that was saying something, seeing as how I was 5'7 going on 5'8. I already knew what they both looked like, but when I thought about it, the boy was kind of... cute.

"_Wow," _I thought, trying and succeeding to hide my spreading blush. _"I've never actually looked at a boy this way before. Except for-" _

But I cut myself off, it was no use thinking about things that would never happen.

On his right was the girl; she looked kind and her face was warm looking, like she was understanding and motherly.

But Aang's face was the one that struck me the hardest; it was like he was looking into an oasis in the middle of a desert. Like I was the best thing there.

Needless to say, that made my day.

It also made a rhyme.

"_He remembered.." _A huge grin broke out on my features.

"Amaya!" He cried, launching himself into my arms with a blast of air. "I almost forgot you were here!"

Okay, that dampened my elation a little bit, but I just smiled and replied softly. "Hey, I missed you too buddy."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I sensed something flying towards my head at top speed.

Just as I was about to grab it out of the air, another rule flitted across my mind. _**"At all costs, he cannot know about you."**_

So I stood there, acting completely unaware, as the projectile cracked against my skull. It wasn't like it hurt or anything, but it was still annoying.

Setting Aang back down on the ground I bent over and lifted what seemed to be a boomerang, looking to be made out of some animal's jawbone, from the snow.

The boy was standing straight as a flagpole, holding out his spear in a defensive manner. "Stay _right _there!" He said, voice ringing with authority. "I _won't hesitate_!"

"Sokka!" The girl exclaimed, looking shocked that her brother would be such a neanderthal. "They won't hurt us, put the stupid spear down."

"Nice form," I told Sokka, that's what the girl called him anyway, while tossing the weapon up-and-down in my hand. "But you have to put more into the _release _of the boomerang, not the actual _throwing _motion."

He looked at me like I had just grown an extra head.

"_Good," _I thought proudly. _"He's distracted. Now he won't impale us with the spear." _

"So," Aang asked innocently. "Do you guys live around here?"

"Don't answer that!" Sokka yelled at his sibling. "Did you see that crazy bolt of light! They were probably trying to signal the Fire Navy!"

"Oh yeah, I'm sure they're spies for the Fire Nation." The girl replied, giving him an incredulous glance. "You can tell by the _evil _look in their eyes."

Beside me, Aang was looked at them with a goofy smile, and I couldn't help but chuckle. _Us _spies for the _Fire Navy_? Nice one Sokka.

I looked between the two boys, almost _tasting _the tension in the air, even if one of them was clueless about it.

"_Ah well," _I thought, kind of annoyed at their stupidity. _"I guess I have to be the one to break the ice." _

"Hi," I said, extending my hand to the two Water-Tribe siblings, though neither of them took it. "My name's Amaya."

"Well, I'm Katara," She told Aang and I, pointing to herself, then pointed to her brother. "And the paranoid one is my brother, Sokka."

"I'm A... aaaahhhh... ahhhhhh... aaah aaah aaah AAAAAAACHOOOO!" He was probably trying to introduce himself, but instead ended up sneezing and launching himself at least ten feet into the air.

I slowly massaged my temples, _"This is going to be problematic." _

When he returned to earth he continued his sentence, rubbing his nose. "I'm Aang."

Obviously I was right in thinking that it wouldn't go unnoticed, because right after that Sokka looked at Aang incredulously and stated. "You just sneezed, and _flew _ten _feet _into the_ air_."

"Really?" I mused, looking up where he had flown, then grinned at my friend. "I thought it was higher than that. Ah well, you'll do better next time."

Katara gasped in amazement, then exclaimed. "You're an _Airbender_!"

"_And you're a Waterbender." _I realized, it was surprising that it took me that long to notice, but I could sense and almost _feel_ the ability, the connection, running through her veins.

How I envied her, free to bend whenever and wherever she wished, no restrictions, no secrets.

"We sure are." I told her, dreading what was to come sooner or later.

It seamed as if Sokka was also dreading something, although I guessed it was because of our arrival and none of my complicated reasons, for he threw his hands up into the air while saying exasperatedly. "Giant light beams, flying bison, Airbenders; I think I've got Midnight Sun Madness. I'm going home to where stuff makes sense."

"_Ah," _I mused, half chuckling at the memory. _"Midnight Sun Madness, I can't recall the last time I heard that one."_

The warrior was about to walk away when he looked out past the icecap and saw nothing but water surrounding us.

"You know," I drawled, trying to hold in my laughter at their predicament. "If you guys are stuck here, we could always give you a lift."

Aang used his Airbending to jump up onto Appa's giant head, then down to the saddle on his back. "Yeah, we'd be happy to help!"

"We'd love a ride," Katara beamed as she climbed up to where my friend sat on the wisent. "Thanks!"

Sokka however, stood his ground defiantly and told us. "Oh no...I am _not _getting on that fluffy snot monster."

Rolling my eyes and walking towards him, I grabbed his arm, steering the boy up to Appa. "Are you hoping some other type of snot monster will offer you a ride?"

"You know," His sister added, smirking slightly as Sokka 'huffed' with indignation. "Before you freeze to death?"

So when I saw him prepare to object once more, I blasted him up onto Appa's back with a 'swish' of air, Sokka gave a startled cry of 'Augh!' as he crashed face-first into the leather.

I, on the other hand, twisted around while giving myself a boost of wind from my feet, the overall result being my soaring gracefully atop the 'fluffy monster's' head.

Looking to Aang I saw that he was busy staring lovingly at Katara, eyes glazed over, and felt a twinge in my chest. Not like I cared, when you spend your whole life with someone, you're bound to develop at least a few deep feelings for them.

The Water-Tribe warrior crossed his arms in annoyance, whilst I took hold of the bison's reigns and called out in elation. "Hold on tight first-time fliers! Appa, yip yip!"

With a flick of my wrists I expected for my animal friend to sail into the sky, giving the two siblings the ride of their lives.

Sadly though, Appa simply gave a low rumble and jumped over the icebergs remains, smacking through the waves only a couple meters out to sea.

Bending down to the Sky Bison's fuzzy ear, I pleaded. "Come on Appa, yip yip."

"Wow," Sokka dragged out the exclamation sarcastically, and lazily leaned back on the seat. "That was truly amazing."

Aang hopped over beside me, then said innocently, "Appa's just tired. A little rest and he'll be soaring through the sky." He made a 'flying through the sky' motion with his arm. "You'll see."

Looking over at my companion, I saw that he was staring at Katara with a loving smile on his face and I felt a strange sensation in my chest.

"_Could it be jealousy?" _I pondered, then waved the thought away, labeling it as ridiculous. _"Why would I be jealous? Aang's just a friend, phhsst, me and Aang, what a stupid idea."_

The Water-Tribe girl looked warily up at Aang, then asked him with one eyebrow raised. "Why are you smiling at me like that?"

Her query brought my friend out of his 'trance' and he tilted his head to the side, chuckling nervously. "Oh...I was smiling?"

When Sokka replied with an 'Uuuuugh' of disgust, I just couldn't help myself and burst out into a fit of giggles, laughing harder than ever when Aang turned to me with a tomato-red face.

~;(+);~

Appa never did lift out of the water and begin to fly, so the two siblings were disbelieving of his ability, but nonetheless after a brief nap that left Aang still unconscious with fatigue, all four of us eventually ended up in the lone village of the Southern Water Tribe.

It's dilapidated state sent me into a deep feeling of melancholy, leaving me to remember what was happening before Aang and I left the Air Temple, making a blossoming flower of guilt begin to spread throughout my stomach.

"_What did our desertion cause?" _I wondered, keeping a straight face even though all I really wanted to do at that moment was burst into tears.

Katara was giving me a tour while Aang finished resting in one of the Tee-Pees, I caught the gist of everything without really paying attention, I was too lost in thought and slowly drowning in the questions I wished to ask her.

Just as my official 'guide' was started telling me about the training grounds or something of the sort, I cautiously reached out and grasped onto her shoulder.

"Katara," I began, solemnly looking her in the eyes. "I'm sorry if I offend you, but, what _happened_ here?"

"What do you mean?" The blue-clad girl gave me a questioning glance. "Our village has been this way for more that seventy years."

That was when I figured it out, when my heart just shattered inside my chest, this meant that everyone I knew were probably..._dead_.

"The last time I was in the South Pole," I told her, trying not to stutter or let my emotions play out. "There were hundreds of people, a palace, a loch system and most of the citizens were Waterbenders. What happened to make that all disappear?"

Katara turned to face me completely then, and when she opened her mouth to speak, a distant look clouded her features. "The Fire Nation happened."

~;(+);~

"Aang! Aang, wake up!" I called out with a twinge of fear, shaking him slightly by the shoulders. He had been screaming in his sleep.

Once he opened his eyes I smiled in relief, helped my friend to his feet, then informed him that the entire village was waiting for him and dragged him out of the Tee-Pee.

"Whaaaaa!" He cried, causing me to laugh at his surprise.

I had gotten used to the small size of the Tribe, but it still gave me a bit of a shock when the group of only women and children stood to greet him.

Katara came up beside him and grasped his hand to bring him closer to the villagers, introducing them to one-another. "Aang, this the entire village. Entire village, Aang."

He bowed to them in a friendly manner, but they all backed like they had been burned.

"_Burned; the Fire nation." _My mind made another connection subconsciously, so trying to escape the scene, I quickly walked back to the entrance of the hut and snuck inside.

Something I hadn't noticed before when I was getting Aang was that it was extremely homey, warm pelts lined the floor and walls, with a blackened fire pit in the middle. Walking over to the other side, I saw our gliders neatly propped up against one bare patch of wall.

Those were what I was looking for, so I grabbed them and ran out of the warm space and into the clearing, where I saw my friend looking as if he just landed Appa on a flying lemur-bat.

"Aang, want this?" I asked, poking him in the back with his staff.

"Oh," He turned around, grinning like a little kid. "Thanks Amaya." Only before he could take it from my hand, Sokka ripped it from my grasp and began to examine it.

"What is this, a weapon?" He speculated, tossing it back-and-forth between his hands. "You can't stab anything with this."

"Really?" I asked, letting some sarcasm seep into my words and twirling my own stave in the air with some Airbending. "And here I thought that anything with a blunt end was capable of stabbing."

"Ha ha, that is the funniest thing I have ever heard." The boy deadpanned, then yelped in bewilderment when Aang created a jet of wind to retrieve his property.

"It's not for stabbing." He explained, eyes alight with glee. "It's for Airbending."

With that, I trotted up beside him and we both sent a whirlwind up the shafts of our gliders, making their wings unfurl in unison. His had red airfoils, where mine were a pale blue.

"Magic trick!" A little girl cried out in amazement, clapping her hands and stepping to the front of the crowd. "Do it again!"

"No, not magic." I corrected her softly, then began to draw the air around my glider. "Airbending. It lets us control the air currents around our gliders and fly."

Sokka arched an eyebrow in contempt, then drawled. "You know, last time I checked, humans can't fly."

Aang grinned as slyly as his innocent face would allow, and answered the Water-Tribe boy with a spring in his step. "Check again!"

Hearing those words, I jumped into the sky and positioned myself on the neck of the glider while my Airbending friend did the same, throwing my worries to the wind as I soared freely.

I have always loved flying, the feeling of weightlessness once you entrust your existence to the invisible substance around you and the way it never gets old.

Sooner than I wanted, I landed elegantly next to Sokka and Aang crashed into a large pile of snowy ice.

"My watchtower!" The boy next to me yelled in dismay, and I felt a little bad for him.

Katara looked at us in awe, then gasped. "That was amazing!"

Sokka rolled his eyes, then started to rant at us. "Great, just great! You guys are Airbenders, Katara's a Waterbender, together you can just waste time all day long."

"You're a Waterbender?" Aang looked to the Obnoxious One's sister in wonder.

Even though another twang of sadness washed through me, I couldn't help but think in triumph. _"Did I call it, or did I call it?" _

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Yes yes, I know, this is _waaaaaaaaaaaaay _over due; but at least I finally finished it!

So I'll try to get the next one out before Christmas Break if I have enough time and just get off my lazy butt to write xD

Please R/R if you want, I'd really appreciate feedback :3


	3. The Who in the What Now?

**Title: **The Elemental Gift

**Episode: **The Boy in the Iceberg / The Avatar Returns

**Chapter 3: **The Who in the What Now?

**Author's Note: **Well, I am writing this at least a week before I post the chapter, so, I hope you like it and constructive criticism is welcome! Please, if you read this, review and tell me what you think of it, I would really love to know xD Also, anything in complete italics is a flashback, (e.g.) _He stood up, walking toward me and perched his spectacles back on his nose. "So, it seams we have a problem here." _(wanted an excuse to use the word 'spectacles' xD )

**Disclaimer:**S,O,S STOP. THE GOVERNMENT HAS CAPTURED ME STOP. PLEASE SEND LINKLUVER3 TO RESCUE ME STOP. OR ELSE I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO UPDATE AGAIN STOP. IF ANY OF YOU ACTUALLY CARE STOP. NERVOUS LAUGH STOP. SERIOUSLY STOP. HELP ME STOP. _(My telegram from Area 51... which is kind of strange considering I'm Canadian... o_o)_

**Song of The Chapter: **It's Just Me; Artist- Escape the Fate

**.:-:.**

"_In war, truth is the first casualty."_

**Aeschylus **

**.:-:.  
**

_**~Amaya's PoV~**_

I sat in the middle of Appa's saddle, swirling patterns into the well-worn leather with my finger-tip as my flying bison friend lay down in the snow, supposedly exhausted from all the strain his newly awakened muscles had gone through on the swim.

All of our belongings were stored on the back of the wisent; bedrolls, gliders, food supplies and a map, all found a home near the end of the pillion. Sighing I leaned back against one such item, it was hard for me, being there again after all those years.

Once Aang had gotten his tongue unfrozen and unstuck from his stave, he and Katara had gone penguin sledding. I would have gone along, but I could see it in his blue-gray eyes that my friend had wanted to impress the Waterbender, so being who I was, I decided to stay in the village and observe Sokka's daily routine.

Though how I got him to let me observe is another story entirely, before the two 'love-birds' went sledding, a little mishap occurred.

"_Now men," I heard a voice sound over the ridge of Appa's saddle, causing me to sit up and hop down in search of the Water-Tribe warrior, who when I found him, was talking to a bunch of boys under the age of nine. "It's important that you show no fear when you face a Firebender. In the Water Tribe, we fight to the last man standing. For without courage, how can we call ourselves men?"_

"_Ummmmmm," I mused like a toddler, waving my hand in the air while trying to contain my laughter. "You know those are kids, right? They should be having fun."_

"_And I gotta pee!" A little boy whined, rocking back-and-forth where he sat. _

"_Listen you!" Sokka exclaimed, glaring at me from the peripheries of his vision. "Until your fathers return from the war, they're counting on you to be the men of this tribe. So that means no potty breaks!"_

_The same little boy began to wave his hand in the air, mimicking what I had done earlier. "But I really gotta go."_

_Katara's brother looked about to start into another 'Responsibilities Speech', so I swiftly trotted towards him and clamped my right hand over his mouth while resting my left on his shoulder. _

"_Mhmmf!" He protested, well, tried to protest, behind my hand. _

"_Shhhhh." I whispered in his ear, the turned to the kids and grinned. "Who else has to go?"_

_All six of the boys raised their hands and then ran like the wind, exiting the closed off section of the camp in the direction of the latrines while I chuckled softly. _

_Once I let go of Sokka's mouth, he slapped his forehead with his palm, and Katara walked in from where the kids had left. "__Have you seen Aang?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. "Gran Gran said he disappeared over an hour ago."_

_I laughed, knowing exactly where he'd be, "He's probably in the bathroom, seeing if his pee will free-" but I was cut off by Aang bursting in as well. _

"_Wow," He gestured over his shoulder towards the toilet."Everything freezes in there!"_

_This caused the remaining children and I to laugh, also making me clutch my stomach with my hands from chuckling way too hard. Knowing that Sokka would be annoyed with me, I quickly composed myself and wiped an imaginary tear from my eye._

"_Ugh," I was right, the older boy scowled at his sister and me. "Amaya, he's your friend, get him out of here, this lesson is for warriors only!" _

_Rolling my eyes, I held out my arms in a mock sign of surrender and sarcastically replied. "Alright alright, don't get your panties in a knot." _

_Only behind us, a group of kids were sliding down Appa's tail, letting out gleeful cries of 'wheeee' as they plopped in the snow. Aang sat on the animal's head, cheering the progeny on and smiling that wonderful smile of his. _

"_Stop! Stop it right now!" Sokka yelled, then turned to Aang and started to reprimand him. "What's wrong with you? We don't have time for fun and games with a war going on."_

_I stood stalk-still, 'Aang would be destroyed if he knew.' I thought, horrified. _

"_What war?" My friend hopped down from Appa, giving the warrior a confused glance. "What are you talking about?"_

_Thankfully, before Sokka could break the news to Aang, the Airbender spotted a penguin and grabbed Katara, dragging her off to sled._

_Her brother however, stood fuming in the clearing, obviously upset and angry at him for disrupting their lives. _

_Walking up to his side, I placed a reassuring hand on his arm and asking him a rhetorical question. "Do you know how long we were in that iceberg for?"_

_Sokka turned to me, eyes wide and mumbled a reply. "How long?"_

"_One-hundred years." My answer sent him into a shocked silence and we both just stared out over the horizon-line where the two friends had disappeared, a quiet understanding permeating the air between us. _

.

~;(+);~

.

"_Okay," _I thought, chuckling softly._"So it wasn't that much of a mishap and then a debate, more like a situation in which both of the parties involved went away from the adventure with a new respect for each other."_

It had been almost an hour and a half since Aang and Katara had left, and Sokka was still attempting to explain warrior ethics to the children, getting annoyed when they just wanted to act like kids. So personally, I was fed up with it.

"Hey!" I called from Appa's head, causing the 'students' along with the older boy to turn to me, surprised and as the case with little ones, with happy smiles. "Who wants to play a game?"

"We don't have time for games!" Sokka screamed, waving his arms around in a flustered manner and most of the little boys' faces fell, emulating their role-model. "There is more to life than fun, we need to protect our village in the case of attack."

All emotion wiped from my face in that moment, an instinct left from years of training, and I swiftly floated down from my perch, landing face-to-face with the agitated boy. He stumbled back a bit, shocked that my moods could change on the twist of a coin.

"W-what are you doing?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion and the kids mimicked the expression.

"I need to talk to you, in private." I hissed through my teeth, grabbing his hand and dragging him away before I yelled in fake happiness over my shoulder. "When I get back, I'll show y'all a trick, okay!"

A loud chorus of 'yay' sounded behind me, building a grin on my face even as I continued to steal the Water-Tribe boy away from his disciples.

"What is going on?" He asked again, more urgently that time, only when I let him see my rage and sadness, he held a calm facade as I stopped suddenly to spit at his feet.

"What is wrong with you?" I whispered angrily, getting so close to him that our noses were almost touching. "Do you know what you are doing? How painful it is to spend your entire childhood surrounded by a war and death and pain that hasn't even started yet? What it feels like to be broken and beaten and looked down upon, until all you are is a raw mass of power and instinct? How it hurts to be told all you are good for is dieing in a battle, that the responsibility you're making those kids shoulder will scar them horribly for the rest of their days!"

Sokka just stood in the snow, looking at me with blue eyes slowly clearing up in realization as tears of anger and sorrow spilt from my golden-violet orbs.

"I don't understan-" He tried to ask, but I poked him harshly in the chest and continued with my own 'Speech of Responsibility'.

"I'm not done yet!" I ordered, stepping back so it wouldn't feel so intimate as I yelled at him. "There's a war, I understand that more than you ever will; but I also know that they need a break. So I promise you, swearing on my mother's grave, that if you are attacked today, by the Fire Nation or whoever, I will stay and fight with you no matter the consequence."

The boy straightened up, startled I guessed, at the seriousness of my vow. "But you're a gir-"

Only I cut him off yet again, begging him with my eyes and tone of voice. "Just let them have fun, just this once give them a day off. Please."

"I don't get why you are so serious about this, but fine, just this once." Sokka looked at me, resignation in his face as he sighed in shallow defeat.

"Thank-you!" I squealed, grasping him around the waist and hugging with all my might. Which is quite a lot, so the red tinge that rose to his face was simple to explain.

After a few minutes of standing in awkward silence, the warrior spoke up and rubbed the back of his neck, looking anywhere but directly at me. "So, what now?"

"Well now," I replied with a devilish grin, turning to head back to where the kids were probably still waiting. "I'm going to show those boys an Airbending trick!"

Though before Sokka could finish laughing in agreement, a high-pitched whistling made us twist and look up into the sky, where a flare exploded with a bang that rivaled one of a fire-bomb going off. We both also noticed that a little ways out to sea, a Fire Navy ship was chugging putrid smog into the air and coming towards the town.

"Great," I deadpanned, twisting on my heel and trotting back in the direction of the village. "Just great."

.

~;(+);~

.

I stood with Sokka and the rest of the Tribe, watching sadly as Aang walked up the path with Katara and the progeny called out gleeful greetings. Even though I was prepared for what was to come, I couldn't help but shudder when the boy beside me started throwing out accusations.

"I knew it!" Sokka bellowed, pointing an index-finger straight to my friend. "You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you!"

Katara stepped up to defend him, earning an unnoticeable scowl from me. "Aang didn't do anything. It was an accident."

"Yeah," He tried to explain, looking to Sokka as well as into my eyes and put a hand to his head in thought. "We were on the ship and there was this booby trap and well, we _boobied _right into it."

"It's okay Aang." I lied, walked towards the two adolescents and hugging my friend. "It was just a mistake, like Katara said."

"Katara," The siblings grandmother, Gran Gran, scolded the girl. "You shouldn't have gone on that ship. Now we could all be in danger!"

"Don't blame Katara!" Aang removed himself from the hug, looking downcast as he protected the Waterbender. "I brought her there, it's my fault."

"Aha! The traitor confesses!" Her brother exclaimed, smugly and ordered the children away from us, sadness flickering on his face for only a second. "Warriors, away from the enemy, the foreigner is banned from our village! Both of them."

"You're making a mistake Sokka," I reprimanded him solemnly, shaking my head and then looking him in the eyes. "And I can't leave, I swore to stay and fight!"

"Aang is not our enemy!" Katara continued, pleading with her brother. "Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time. Fun!"

"Fun?" her brother laughed humorlessly, staring her down and ended with a yell. "We can't fight Firebenders with fun!"

The 'enemy' Airbender smiled earnestly, his innocence at the situation and the world slowly breaking my heart. "You should try it sometime."

"_Not now Aang," _I thought sadly, visibly shaking my head._ "Not this time."_

"Get out of our village," Sokka ordered us again, pointing to the exit of their home. "Now!"

"Grandmother, please," Katara begged the old woman, while I glared scathingly at her brother. "Don't let Sokka do this."

"_He doesn't know what he's doing." _I thought sadly, grimacing inwardly because of my predicament and limited resources._ "He's just, condemning them all."_

Out of the corner of my vision, I noticed Aang staring at the Water-Tribe girl with guilt clouding his usually bright eyes. "Come on Aang." I whispered, leading him by the hand towards Appa. "We aren't welcome here anymore."

Behind us, I heard the girl arguing pitiably with her tribe and then she was standing right beside my friend, looking angrily back at the villagers. "Come on Aang, let's go!" She yelled, mirroring my words from moments ago and dragging him the rest of the way to the bison.

I, to say the least, was shocked at Katara's outburst and looked to where the stood, the sun setting dramatically over the skyline. _"Who...what is she doing!"_

My silent question was voiced by Sokka a moment later, and her reply was just as surprising as her previous actions. "To find a Waterbender, Aang is taking me to the North Pole!"

"What?" I spat disbeleivingly, running over to the pair and staring at my partner. "What do you agree to?"

"Katara!" Sokka was the one who spoke up, piercing his sister with a gaze of steel. "Would you really choose him over your tribe? Your own family?"

I was left out of the equation, obviously forgotten in the fight that brewed between the siblings and I silently urged Aang to get onto Appa, though he wouldn't listen, instead walking up to Katara.

"I don't want to come between you and your family." He admitted, watching her face intensely and that 'forgotten feeling' spread across my body again.

"_At least I know when I'm not wanted." _I told myself bitterly, then was disgusted with my own thoughts. How could I be so selfish, when all he was doing was helping another person? _"Not like what I want matters anyway, I should encourage him."_

So that was exactly what I tried to do, encourage my childhood companion to invite people to the North Pole. Only my new found enthusiasm was stepped on by another realization from the Waterbender.

"So, you're leaving the South Pole?" She stated sadly, voice lilting in desperation. "This is goodbye?"

"Yeah," I replied solemnly, stepping forward to bid her farewell. "Thank you so, so much, for everything."

"For sledding as well." Aang added, smiling naively at Katara and waved goodbye.

She continued with her questions, tilting her head in curiosity and tribulation. "But where will you go?"

" Guess I'll go back home and look for the Airbenders." He answered, completely unaware.

"_It's gonna kill him." _I concluded, turning away so I could straighten up and recompose, then added in false humor. "Wow, you haven't cleaned your room in a hundred years, not looking forward to that."

He shuddered, going along with the joke, and I chuckled in spite of myself. Hey, even sorrowful moments can have their funny sections.

Aang boosted himself onto Appa with some wind and I followed suit, landing behind him as he took the reins and said goodbye as well.

"Let's see your bison fly now, Air boy." Sokka taunted, earning a gust of wind that knocked him over, courtesy of me.

My comrade shook the harness, calling out a hopeful word of encouragement. " Come on, Appa, you can do it. Yip, yip!" Only the wisent simply grumbled, taking his time to stand up and prepare walk away.

"Yeah," The warrior snorted, rolling his eyes and brushing the snow off of his trousers. "I thought so."

Just then, a little girl with pig-tails rushed forward with a cry and stood by Katara, calling up to the boy who sat in-front of me while wiping tears from her cheeks. "Aang, don't go! We'll miss you!"

He glanced at her, sorrowfully nodding his head in agreement. "I'll miss you too."

When he looked at Katara for what he presumed was the last time, I had to turn my head and block the view, it was to say the least."

"Come on boy." I whispered to Appa, patting the side of his large and fuzzy head affectionately, waving once more to the town we were leaving behind.

With my keen hearing, I heard the Water-Tribe girl yell, probably at her grandmother. "You happy now? There goes my one chance of becoming a Waterbender!"

I Airbent up beside Aang, giving him a sympathetic hug and murmuring phrases of reconciliation with my mouth pressed against his head. "It'll all be okay, don't worry."

He looked up at me, eyes wide and defenseless. "You think?"

"Yeah," I mumbled, feeling somewhere deep down that it wasn't as much of a lie as I thought it was. "I do. I really, truly do."

.

~;(+);~

.

We had taken our leave about twenty minutes ago, and were now resting on a collection of artistically shaped ice formations. Appa just lay on the one patch of 'flat' that was around, Aang sat in the middle of a circular crystal, and I hung upside-down on the wisent's saddle.

Said animal groaned, probably annoyed at how I kept blowing tufts of his fur into his large eyes over and over again, but the boy who sat not three feet away decided to take it as a sign of lonliness.

"I know," He mused forlornly, head bowed down as far as it would go. "I liked her too."

It was then that I knew I needed to help the village, they couldn't handle even one Fire Navy ship, no offense meant to them, they just didn't have the power. Katara could hardly bend a puddle, Sokka was competent but too overconfident, and the rest were women or children.

"_No way I'm letting them take the fall." _I told myself, flipping over and whispering a request into Appa's ear, hoping he would understand the gravity of the situation.

The bison grunted in what I hoped to be agreement, so I grabbed my glider and unfurled it before Aang even notice I stood up.

"What are you doing?" He asked, quirking his eyebrow at me and curiosity flowed through his words, making him sound even younger than he was.

"I need to help those people Aang." I told him sternly, glancing everywhere and anywhere but into his eyes. "So I also need you to stay here."

"No way!" He exclaimed, running towards the animal and I. "If you go, I have to come and protect you!"

"_It's the other way 'round, you silly kid." _I thought, then turned and yelled firmly, seemingly at no-one in particular. "I would appreciate for you to sit on him now!"

I pushed off from the leather harness just as Aang tried to climb on, but he was stopped suddenly by a furry body sitting upon him, almost crushing him and his glider. Thankfully, the key word in there was 'almost'.

"Amaya!" He yelled after me and at Appa as I spiraled through the air in the direction of the Water-Tribe village. "What the heck? Come on boy, get offa me."

Ignoring the cries until they were just an irritating buzz, I followed my line of sight to where a ship was crunching straight into the ice-and-snow barrier that surrounded the settlement. Also,as I got closer, I saw a figure attempting to stare the metal monster down.

"Sokka you idiot!" I screamed, picking up the pace and whizzing like a lightning-bolt across the evening sky. _"I'll never forgive myself, never ever!"_

A thick line of steam rose from the top of the bowsprit, the screech of metal-on-metal alerting me to the fact that the front opened and reveled a small troop of Fire Nation soldiers. If any of them hurt those people, I swore I would destroy each and every one of them.

I was almost there, but I had to witness him assault 'Gran Gran' and the military ransack the camp, having the belongings of almost every person strewn out among the snow.

Gasping in horror as a little boy stepped towards the leader, shouting "Show no fear!" and raising a fist, it brought one last burst of speed, just enough for me to fly directly over the commander and kick him in the head, knocking him onto his face.

"Hi Amaya," Sokka 'greeted' me dryly, eyes drooping in surrender. "Thanks for coming."

Only I waved him away and confronted the man, who turned out just to be a boy about my age with a terrible scar marring the left side of his face. Walking forward, I glared at him and asked. "Looking for me?"

The boy recoiled a bit, in shock or disbelief, possibly even incredulous at my admittance. "You're the Airbender? You're the Avatar?"

Tunnel vision switched on, so I wasn't really aware of what the other people around me were saying or doing, I was completely focused on the bender in-front of me. Sizing him up, he appeared to be at least 5'10, and well built. _"A powerful opponent?"_

We circled each other, like two carnivores fighting over a kill, in the middle of the village that had somehow become an arena of some sort.

The boy sneered, still countering my steps with his own, and spoke condescendingly at me, at me, not to me. " I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training. Meditating. You're just a child!"

"I'm only about a year younger than you scar-face!" I retorted cruelly, matching his sneer with a smirk of my own. I was aware that my blatancy had startled him, no-matter how well he covered for his fumble.

With a cry of rage, the boy sent blast after blast of fire in my direction, I deflected every single one with a mixture of Airbending and undetectable Firebending, never once breaking my calm. Then I snapped out of my 'battle mode', looking at the other citizens and the fear that was evident on their faces.

I understood what I needed to do, _"I will turn myself in as the Avatar, hopefully Aang will have enough sense to escape." _I thought gravely, stopping suddenly in my tracks. "If I go with you, willingly, will you give me your word as a man to leave this place and never return?"

He froze in his Firebending stance for a moment and then straightened up, nodding stiffly in agreement to my terms.

Two of the soldiers, clad in armor that covered their torsos in metal and their faces with skull-like masks, came up beside me, shackling my hands roughly behind my back.

I was led up to the ship in silence, not a single person tried to defend me or fight back, which I was glad for. As we stood rigidly just at the entrance to the hull, the bowsprit creaked to life and began to close.

My last gesture was to Sokka, a finger to my closed lips in a way of saying 'shhhhh', I believed he knew I was lying and I couldn't have him telling anyone, not then.

The door crashed shut after us as I was led, once again in complete and utter silence, down the corridors of the war-ship, where a holding cell awaited me.

.

~;(+);~

.

_**~Third PoV~**_

The twelve year-old Airbending boy had finally made it back to the lone Water-Tribe village; though only after a long, wasted while spent persuading a flying bison to get of of him so he could fly after his friend.

Landing in the center of the town, it was unnaturally quiet, which cause the innocent boy to worry for his friends and call out to them.

"Amaya!" He cried uncertainly, twisting from left to right, "Katara, Sokka!"

A slightly older girl stepped out from a seemingly deserted hut, running up to him and capturing him in a hug. "Aang, did you know?"

The boy looked sideways at her, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Did I know what?"

"That Amaya was the Avatar," The girl blurted, leaning back with watery eyes and frowned in sorrow. "She gave herself up to the Fire Nation to protect our village."

"W-what? N-no," Aang whispered, anguish filtering through his speech. "Katara, t-that's not right."

"What do you mean?" A boy, older than both of the children present, stepped out of the same hut. "You didn't know or something?"

"No!" The Airbender cried, lashing out angrily at his friends. "I mean she's not the Avatar! I am, I was supposed to be taken by those soldiers, not her! This is all my fault!"

The siblings stepped back, shocked at the child who was calm the whole time they had known him, for about a day he had never yelled. Not even when he was jabbed with a spear or wrongly accused of treason.

Aang fell to his knees, sifting the loose, melting snow between his fingers and looked out to where the Navy ship was slowly getting farther away from them, then whispered so only he could hear. "Amaya, I swear on all the Avatars before me, we will get you back."

.

~;(+);~

.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

**DUH DUH DUHHHNNNN!**

**OVER 4622 WORDS = 10 PAGES ON OPEN OFFICE~! :D A NEW RECORD! **

**Yay for cliff-hangers! ;D Please R & R if you liked it, or even if you thought it sucked. I would love to hear from any readers I could possibly posses xD**

**And also, I'm sorry if they all (Aang) seem a little OOC, but keep in mind he just learned that his best friend was captured by the Fire Nation... _because she was protecting him._ That would make anyone a little OOC don't 'cha think?**

**~Love & S'mores~**

**S-o-t-R *hearts*  
**


	4. Captive Memories

**Title: **The Elemental Gift

**Episode: **The Avatar Returns

**Chapter 4: **Brothers

**Author's Note: **Not much to say really, just that I'm really sorry for the wait and I hope you're enjoying my fanfiction! Every single one of my reviews has made me smile, and I want to personally thank all who have given me feedback so far, well, I would, but... I shall in chapter five! I apologize for the agonizing length of this chapter, it's just, I needed to make up for my five month absence and writer's block. I'm so very very very sorry ;n; Though you all probably moved on, ditched this for a story that updated XD And I understand if you have, it's all good~

.

**Disclaimer: **No sleep... too tired to write a witty comeback to the FBI agents now swarming my door... wait...what?

.

**Song of The Chapter: **Your Guardian Angel; Artist- The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

**.:-:.**

"_Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a__ cage."_

**Anonymous**

**.:-:.**

_**~Third PoV~**_

The reflection of the sun against the surrounding glaciers of the South Pole created an ethereal atmosphere, clear blue sky containing fluffy cotton-ball clouds was a spectacular sight; and the calm waters of the sea were so clear, that from the tip of the tallest iceberg one could look down and witness a Parcel of penguins glide underneath the waves.

Only this scene was disturbed all too soon; a metal monstrosity cut ruthlessly through the strait, and sent the family of flightless birds diving deeper into the bounding main, searching to escape the alarming vibrations the ship radiated.

It was a Fire Navy vessel, though one quite small in comparison to the others of it's time. Steam powered, with a foredeck much longer than it's after-deck and a single tower dividing them, backed by the lone smoke-stack, which was chugging out putrid fumes.

Eight people were gathered on the longest segment of the deck, five of which being guards and two claiming their positions as Royalty, leaving one unidentified female standing amidst the men.

That young woman was known as Amaya.

She stood tall; back straight and head held high in what was mistaken as defiance, though the girl was all too willing to be in her current predicament. Light auburn hair pulled back into a plait, leaving bangs to frame her pale face, and hydrangea eyes sparked with many secrets. Clad in long forgotten Air Nomad garb; orange shall over top of a faded yellow shirt, held at the waist by a strip of tangerine fabric and spread into a skirt that was slit up both sides, revealing brown trousers.

One of the three guards who were placed behind her advanced, the Airbender's staff in hand. This soldier, as well as the other four, was outfitted with the customary crimson and onyx armor of the Fire Nation; face concealed by an ivory skull mask that covered all emotion. The mercenary handed the stave ceremoniously to the younger of the two royals.

Prince Zuko weighed the artifact in his hands, mouth set in a grim line, but golden eyes gleamed with satisfaction. He wore the same armor as the guards, only trimmed in gold and lacking the helmet; the Prince was tall, taller than Airbender, and had a large burn scar that disfigured his left eye along with the ear on that side.

Looking up from his prize, the teenager stared who he believed to be the Avatar straight in the eye, pride swelling up in his chest, for after three years he could finally return home. "This staff will make an excellent gift for my father. I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers," Prince Zuko assumed, words lashing the girl deeper than he could ever know. "Being raised by monks. Take the Avatar to the prison hold. And take this to my quarters." He thrust the stave into the hands of the old General Iroh beside him.

Amaya glanced quickly into the face of her captor, making sure to memorize each contour as to never forget her enemy, before she was roughly shoved back in the direction of the stairs which most certainly would take her to the awaiting cell.

She dug her heels into the ground, the girl had noticed something about the Prince, and the first vile fingers of guilt were slowly clawing at her mind.

"Keep moving." The sentry to her left growled, yanking on the shackles that bound Amaya's wrists and made them bite into her skin, rubbing it raw.

Though she stood her ground, back still facing the exiled Prince of the Fire Nation, who was annoyed at her slow departure and was about to snap, when she did something utterly shocking.

"I would like to apologize, for what I said to you earlier about your scar." The Air Nomad turned her head slightly to gauge his reaction, she hoped he would accept; though even she didn't fully understand her own reasoning behind the plea. "I hope you can forgive me."

Prince Zuko was extremely confused, though he hid it well and glared at the girl anyway. The young man didn't understand her, but he had more important things to worry about, like what would happen once he returned. Turning on his heel and making his way back to the tower, there were many plans to be discussed.

Meanwhile the Airbender was led roughly, descending to the brig of the ship, down a long cold hallway towards what was soon to be her prison cell. When they finally reached the end of the gloomy corridor, her chin was still up, even when the guard opened the iron-plated door and shoved her inside, Amaya shed not one tear.

She understood that it was her duty, and that made her content. Though, with her hands tied behind her back, the girl's face was mushed uncomfortably into the floor that was slowly rising in temperature, caused by the heat raising upwards from the engine room below.

_I hope you are okay Aang,_ She thought, knowing that in actuality, what happened was all her fault._ If I had just been more serious, been more responsible, I should have taken you away from the South Pole as soon as I woke up. At least, I should have destroyed the Firebender without hesitation. _

Amaya glowered into thin air, angry and disappointed with her own selfishness. Aang was her life, how could she have acted so idiotically as to revert back to an immature child, laughing and playing around? It was her duty to protect him, and she had let her own wants get in the way! Her mind had gone hazy from the decades in the berg, forgetting all she had learned when it really mattered; all for the sake of acting 'normal'.

"I'm so horrid, disgusting, I need to do better." The girl spat, no tears managed to escape past her eyelids, a discipline she had mastered long ago. "Why must I always be selfish?"

Her cheek was beginning to burn now, about half-way to a second degree, but the Airbender relished in the pain. Coupling the sensation with the sting of biting her lip, and Amaya could almost take her mind off of her revolting self.

Almost.

Looking back on it, this young woman felt she had let Aang down, disappointed her elders' wishes and used her abilities for unnecessary reasons. _I could have protected everyone with only my Airbending, I was just showing off, to myself! _

"Nngh!" One scar on Amaya's right hand began to tingle, sending currents traveling up the mystical swirls on her wrist and around her neck, finally settling into an uncomfortable buzz at the base of her skull.

_It's the warning,_ She thought, confusion spreading across her face and for a split-second, there was a spark of thrilling gold in her eyes. _It was pointless, but not powerful, just enough for whatever dictates this to register it and label it as needless._

The Airbender didn't understand half of the reactions that went on in her body, half of what kept her secret so closely guarded; but this time, she counted herself lucky. For such an uncalled for motion of self-defense outside of her 'natural' element, even one that kept her and anyone around her from being injured, would usually cause much more than just an irritation.

"I helped them, I helped _him_." Amaya croaked out, then sent herself upwards and back with a gust of air from her lips, trying to right herself for the sizzling of the metal had become too irritating. Knees cracking slightly as the girl settled into a sitting position, arms still bound behind her, and an expression akin to nostalgia rested on her face.

Taking in the small steel cell that was now her own, a sigh left her lips; it was small, only about three meters in height and four in perimeter, as was expected for a prison vault. _Essentially it is a vault, _She thought with a mirthless chuckle._ Though it wouldn't be too difficult for a... specialized... bender._

Amaya let out one last whimper from her mouth that twisted into a grimace, and tried to ignore the prickling that slowly snaked into her scalp._ This feeling, it's much too strong for something as little as the defense I used, usually it wouldn't even count._

The girl realized that the buzz was probably just what she had speculated before, just what it always meant; warning, stop, think about what you're doing. She permitted the last exclamation of discomfort to escape her, then rose her chin and forced herself to be strong, _For Aang; he needs to be safe. For him, I need to be stronger._

The girl's eyes flew open in the first signs of true fear she had shown since being captured, and a breathy, stuttering whisper from her chapped lips permeated the silence.

"But... h-he's going to try to rescue me." Amaya's face was clouded with shame, then it slowly mutated into a deep and sorrowful anger; at herself.

In her rage, the Airbender accidentally bent through the shackles that held her arms behind her back, drawing them out in-front where she could see them.

Soon after that, her fists began to pound themselves raw on the blistering floor of her cell again and again and again, while her desperately mutilated cry echoed throughout the hull of the ship; causing one retired General Iroh to be awoken from his nap, and worry to crease his brow.

"_**AAAAAAAAUUGHHH!**_"

.:-:.

Soaring above the field of icecaps, Aang led the Sky Bison after the Fire Nation vessel with a frantic determination; he knew his friend was probably scared out of her skin and he had to save her. Turning back to the two Water-Tribe siblings with wide eyes, the boy couldn't keep a grin from flitting across h is face.

"This is amazing!" Sokka, the eldest of the duo exclaimed, peering over the edge of the Bison's saddle and laughing excitedly. "We're flying, we're actually flying!"

"See?" The monk exclaimed gleefully, smile growing even wider and eyes shining with laughter. "This is why having a flying bison is one of the most amazing things in the whole world."

Katara gripped the side of Appa's saddle, gaping in awe at the view they had, laughing in joy as she spotted a Parcel of seal-penguins dart between the blue-tinted icebergs, which sent glimmers of light dancing across the water. "You did this every single day?" He voice lilted in wonder as she faced Aang, then, "Why are you looking at me like that, again?"

The monk, whose cheeks were now flushed in embarrassment, decided to disregard the latter statement. "Yeah, but it's more fun when there are some other people to share it with."

Behind both their backs, Sokka groaned in disgust, then made a different noise in realization. For his nostrils had picked out the scent of Fire-Navy smoke, and he shifted around in the saddle to get a better look down below.

The ship was chugging along almost directly below the trio and their bison, crushing through the dangerous ice-floes with a sharp prow and avoiding the larger caps with military precision. Aang's joyful aura dimmed as he spotted the vessel, why did Amaya have to lie?

"Guys... I think we've found it." Sokka warned, the tone in his voice bordering on something comical.

The monk's eyes grew dark, saddened by the capture of his friend. _You didn't have to do that for me Amaya, you know that. _His heart clenched, then, Aang let out a futile grin. _Maybe they didn't get as bad as everyone says, maybe Amaya's fine. _ "Time to say hello to the Fire Nation!"

The eldest sibling scoffed in disbelief, rolling his eyes so dramatically that his sister had to stifle a giggle. "You don't 'say hello' to the _Fire-Nation_! You whack them down as soon as they get close!"

Aang ignored that comment while taking hold of Appa's reins, leading the bison into a steady descent, farther and farther down until they hovered almost twenty-four meters above the metal deck of the ship; on which stood eight soldiers, who hadn't yet realized there were visitors right above their heads.

"You can't go down there," Katara told him, worry shifting in her bright sapphire orbs. "They'll kill you, even if you are the Avatar!"

_I bet Amaya's actually the Avatar, _Her sibling thought, rolling his eyes at the twelve year-old's naivety and lightheartedness_. There's no way this kid knows the trials of the world, at least, not like Amaya seemed to. _

"I have to," The monk insisted, standing up on the bison's fluffy head and searching the ship for a safe way down. "You guys should stay here though."

Sokka's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped to the figurative ground, he was irked to say the least, who was this kid to keep him from taking out some Fire Nation scum? "What, why!"

"Well," Aang grinned, though continued in complete seriousness. "Someone needs to keep an eye on Appa, what if he were to get hurt? So who better than two someones with warrior skills and Waterbending?"

"He's a ten-ton bison!" The boy's voice to a pitch so high it cracked, and he waved his arms about to punctuate the statement. "I don't think he needs babysitt-" Katara sent a glare his way, causing the _'powerful man'_ to fold his arms across his chest and grumble something else unintelligible.

Thankfully, orange-clad child couldn't have been more oblivious to the sarcasm that reply was steeped in, and he finally found the his opening in the vessel's defenses; there was a blind spot that was never passed by their rotations located at the back of the ship, all he had to do was fly over and take them out before they spotted his intrusion.

Airbending over to where his staff lay on the saddle, Aang gingerly picked it up and another smile lit up his childish face. "Wish me luck!"

"Be careful okay?" Katara was worried for him and he hadn't even left yet; chewing lightly on her bottom lip and glancing up at the Avatar with desperation in her eyes, the girl rose from her position on the pillion.

"No worries," He assured her, twirling his stave around his arm. "I'll be in-and-out of there faster than you can say hoping-llamas."

The Waterbender still wasn't convinced, but she let it go anyway; then, changed her mind and rushed forward, engulfing the monk in a warm, affectionate hug. Though it went unnoticed by her that, once she pulled away, a light blush had dusted on Aang's cheeks.

Sokka noticed, and gave another grumble, this one sounding something like 'luck'.

With that, Aang opened his glider with another swirl of his element, then jumped into the smoggy air and drifted right past the armor-clad men, landing safely in their blind spot. Feet making barely a sound as they touched down on the metal of the deck, he swiftly pressed up against the tower that divided the two segments of the ship.

It was all up to him now.

.:-:.

_**~Amaya's PoV~**_

My hands were bloody and sore, the crimson liquid was beginning to clot, turning a brownish-maroon colour and felt sticky to the touch. _Stupid, _I chastised myself, glaring down at the gory marks that stained my arm-wrappings. _What is Aang gunna say when he sees this!_

_I'm such a moron. _I thought, leaning against the door to my cage with a sigh, not caring whether my position would block entrance or not. _At least no-one came down to 'check on me'._

Why would they? Heck, they probably guessed I was scared about being captured and lashed out; scared about being trapped, scared about being alone. All of those theories were downright null-and-void; no point in being afraid of something when …..

Never-mind.

Pressing myself farther into the steel of the door, feeling the heat sear through the fabric of my woolen shirt and beat relentlessly into my shoulders, I grimaced as sweat ran rivulets down my face; almost as if it was mocking my inability to cry.

I was.. piecing myself back together, I guess you could say. _I... I can't go down so easy next time,_ This wasn't normal. _It can't get through, not again. _Piece by broken piece, I needed to reacquaint myself with my duties; if I was in battle right then, I would have been dead in a heartbeat.

It was going fine, well actually, but then.

"_An Airbender is on deck!" _A gruff voice called out from the other side of the door, urgency permeating what was probably a calm demeanor.

"_**Not possible, the Avatar is still in the cell, I've been guarding her the entire time."**_ Of course there would be a soldier stationed outside, this one sounded younger, blindly following orders. Orders that would most likely get him killed.

"_The Airbender isn't a she, it's a he. And he's wiped out half the patrol!"_

"Aang." I whispered, voice hoarse from my screams, he had come to get me, just like I knew he would. He probably just knocked them aside, Aang wouldn't even think of dealing with enemies any differently.

"_**Then what are you doing here? You should be out assisting the others."**_

"_There are almost no 'others' left, you need to return with me and help take care of the little pest."_

"_**I am not to leave my post."**_

"_She's given up, you heard her screaming like someone stuck in the Freezer of the Boiling Rock, she can't escape if she tried! But that boy could help her, and then the Prince would have our heads!"_

"_**Y-You're right!"**_

With that, the sound of two pairs of metal footsteps clanking away met my ears. I had to act fast, get out before another guard came to take the last one's place, _Though there may not be any extra left to spare. _

I shot up in my seat, not taking any time to recover from the numbness that had collected in my muscles, and reached out in-front of me, hands flexing in the humid air. _This will dull the effect of the steel, since I'm closer to Water. _I knew, and it was also in my knowledge that if anyone were to look upon my face, all they could see would be a 'cold and calculating mask'.

At least, that's what I was told.

_Shut up! No thinking.. just.. just action! _My hands quivered, my stance faltering. _What if the hypersensitivity hasn't worn off yet? _Selfish. _Doesn't matter! Nothing happened when I got out of the cuffs, no reason for anything to happen now!_

This dance, it was supposed to be beautiful, the movements calming and peaceful; this dance was meant to be a celebration, unity of element and soul, wholeness. Not how it felt to me, not this time, hardly ever.

Swishing my arms, first left and then right, drawing the substance from the air. I could feel the familiar coolness climb up to my elbows and slowing my heart-rate minutely, just by coming into contact with my skin.

The clear liquid washed the crusted and annoying blood from my wrists before crystallizing into solid spikes, the cold feeling on my hands was soothing.

Following up with a turn on my heel and holding my arms out, almost in a diving position, I flew forward while still standing straight.

My impact with the door was short-lived, initially ice splintered off and scattered about the room, tinkling like bone-chimes; but after that, all I could hear was the blood pounding in my ears, adrenaline taking the thrill out of the sensation of metal bending like gelatin beneath my palms.

It was a bittersweet feeling; the water gave me the reassurance of a home I never knew, but the steel was disgusting to me. Tainted beneath my fingertips. The ice had dulled the revulsion that tore into my bones, not a lot though, not nearly as much as I had hoped it would.

Didn't keep the memory buried as I hoped it would.

I had to stop for a moment, lean back against the wall of my cell and let everything that was distracting me pass, then I could continue. Yeah. That's all I had to do, then I would be good as new.

.:~:.

_The small child was sent careening into the rock wall with a sickening crack, her short auburn hair accentuated the bruises on her face as her crumpled form sagged to a heap in the corner, and slightly masked the whorls that made her a monster. _

_Amaya's nine year-old body was battered and broken, Monk Afiko had seen to that, it was all on his orders; she had to do exactly as she was told, how she was told to do it. No questions asked; ever. When she had failed to Bloodbend, under the pretense that it was 'evil'; three of her ribs, a femur, and her collarbone were broken. _

_Then, to add insult to injury, her fiery locks were sheered from her head. _

_Aang liked her long hair, he said it reminded him of candles burning; his comments always made Amaya smile. Remembering this, a small chuckle ripped from her throat despite the pain._

"_What are you laughing about!" The boy's harsh growl startled her for his presence had been momentarily forgotten, and even though the younger girl wasn't able to see her attacker's face, she imagined his golden eyes narrowing in annoyance._

_The red-head winced at the malice displayed in her old friend's tone; the warmth was gone, the care and the understanding and the big brother she had needed her whole life, the big brother she had loved since their meeting that fateful spring in Tiandish._

_All gone._

"_K-Ku-Ku-" Her lips stumbled over the syllable, mouth numbed from the last couple hits she had been too slow to avoid. Amaya's problems were far from over however, for her 'brother' silenced the whimper by dragging her body up from the floor and sending it back down again with a sharp slap._

"_You have no right to speak my name when in such a state." The teenager spat, glaring at her with those piercing eyes before igniting a ball of fire in his upturned palm. _

_Amaya could tell because of the heat that suddenly sparked from the general direction of his voice; she couldn't see it however._

_She couldn't see anything, though her blinded eyes still refused to shed tears. _

_The girl was unable to bend the most refined element of them all, the most difficult substance to control; metal. It wasn't a conscious choice, Amaya wasn't stupid enough to deny the truth of what she had to be any longer._

_She just couldn't do it. It appeared as if she was physically, or spiritually, impaired when it came to this. She practiced the forms and the tricks and the basics, but nothing ever helped the child with her task of bending steel. _

_The only warning she had of the metal boot flying towards her was the whistle it made as it passed through the air. If Amaya didn't stop it, the foot would most likely crack her skull and kill her instantly, if not, then she would simply bleed out._

"_Worthless!" His growl cut into her like knives. "The Avatar has no need for a guardian as selfish as you, he shall die because of your weaknesses!"_

_A dazzling flash of light lasted for only a moment, and when it subsided, the girl's hand was clenched around the metal an inch away from her temple. Those reflexes were unexpected, but no more than the strange sensation of the cold substance folding under her fingertips._

_Success, small, but success at last!_

_Amaya struggled to get up, right hand reaching up the damp rock and fingers scrabbling to find a hand-hold in the cold stone she could use to support her weight, left continuing to mold the metal shoe caught in her fist. _

_One thought raced circles through her addled mind over and over._

_'This has to work... it has to!'_

_Part of the boot was ripped away, leaving the older boy's toes exposed, and the metal was brought up to Amaya's eye-level out of habit. She was stunned, and soon enough, she slowly explored the shapes she could create. _

_The teenager stepped back, knowing that his work was almost finished._

_Sweat formed on her brow as her concentration was solely on the task of making the chunk into something useful, a weapon perhaps. _

_If only she was able to see it, it would be much easier. _

_'Once I master this!' Amaya thought eagerly, a smile stretching her lips despite the bruising pain and the temporary reminder of her training. 'Once I can protect him better, they'll heal me! Once I deserve it, I'll see again!'_

_The girl was surrounded in darkness, her last spoken words sending a pang of regret into her 'brother's' heart as he extinguished the unneeded flame; the sound of her utter joy haunting him for the rest of his life. _

"_I'll see... Aang's face... again..."_

.:~:.

_K-Ku.. _I lacked the strength even to think his name. _No... why... why did you hate me? What... did I do wrong... _Choking back another dry sob, _stupid... stupid..._ The grief was less powerful after I let the memory play out; not a lot mind you, just less.

My fingers ghosted over my face, specifically the skin around my eye-sockets, the paste I wore made it tacky and unpleasant. _Selfish... my vanity doesn't matter... _The paste was needed, not only there, but my entire face.

To hide my shame.

"My... scars." The words stuck in my throat, bringing the tingling to my attention, the tingling that meant I should be crying.

_It's all better now. I'm better now, I can protect him, the training isn't need. Don't worry Amaya. NOW! To the task at hand!_

I knew what had to be done, lock them away. Those pesky, annoying, buzzing emotions of a scene from long ago weren't needed. I centered myself and focused on what was around me, hoping that it would calm me down so I could continue.

Air that dried out my lungs, the heat still coming from below.

Sweaty, sticky clothing that clung to my body uncomfortably.

The sounds of battle from above.

_Hurry you buffoon! _Careless and stupid, reminiscing when I had a job to do.

Okay, manage what you have; there's an opening in the steel, like a gaping wound in the chest of an enemy, and I slowly stepped through it. _I have to reseal it_, Or else a guard or the Prince or any other person could see that someone had bent a seemingly unbendable substance. _Not a good thing, not a good thing at all._

Using simple motions, I forced the two halves of broken metal towards each other, blending them together again and making sure to leave only the thinnest of scars; no-one would be able to tell unless they knew what they were looking for.

Soon enough, I was in the corridor, gaping hole as my escape from the burning prison behind me repaired, and passage through the hull to rescue Aang in-front; no doubt in my mind which path I was going to take and why.

"I'll be there faster than you can say hoping llamas.." I muttered our old saying under my breath, but for some reason, the words burned in my mouth and left a bitter taste.

With a blast of air I lifted off the floor and soared towards the exit, towards the opening onto the deck; where so many things could go wrong. Though, I never exactly _made it _up to the 'life changing confrontation', not right away.

"'Scuse me!" An orange-and-yellow blur zoomed past, knocking me out of the way and into the wall on my right, smacking my head against the steel hard enough for a recoil effect, then causing me to land face-first on the ground.

_Wait... orange-and-yellow..?_ I thought, realization dawning on me in an instant. _Aang! Thank goodness he's alright, he could've been in serious trou-.. the door!_

I wasn't afraid he would see my mending job, oh no, I simply had a feeling he wouldn't see it until the last second and smack right into it, which would alert the guards to our presence more quickly.

Though I shouldn't have worried, for he noticed his mistake almost immediately after and came speeding back towards me, stopping just when he was about to run me over for a second time. My would-be savior began to talk, but I wasn't paying that much attention.

_Ow... _My head was pounding, and not from adrenaline this time.

".. Amaya! Well anyway, that was easy!" Aang finished, innocent smile spreading wide across his face, then it morphed into an expression of surprise. "We gotta run, we gotta run, we gotta run!"

There were five soldiers running down the stairs towards us, armor impeding their chase only slightly; they had about one-hundred-fifty meters 'till they would catch up.

Scrambling to my feet wasn't a good idea; head injuries and sudden changes in altitude don't mix, as I should have known. "Bleeding hog-monkeys, that _hurt_!" I cried, grabbing at the back of my skull, and jerked my hands away once the came in contact with liquid, looking at my fingers I saw red.

Aang's gray eyes got big, staring at the splotch of blood on my palm and worry lined his features; it made my heart swell with sickening hope, he was worried for _me_. "D-Did _I _do that? I'm so sorry, so so sorry!"

"No time, tell ya' later." I mumbled, the soldiers were so close now; I gathered him up in my arms, making sure to have a solid grip, and inhaled deeply. Swerving so my back was facing our pursuers, I waited for the opportune moment.

"Amaya..." The boy in my arms called out skeptically, squirming around a little bit before I held him tighter in my embrace. Him in my arms, I felt guilty at the happiness that settled in my core. "What are you doing?"

A _little closer._

They were right behind me, maybe only a foot or two away; it was terrifying. What if they caught me, and him by association! No. I wouldn't let that happen, worst-case scenario; I reveal myself, but that was a small price for his safety.

A tiny gust brushed against my back, they were close enough to disrupt the air currents! The fear sent a shiver rolling through me, I clenched my eyes shut.

_Now! _

I exhaled powerfully, forcing us back into the soldiers and knocking them down, giving us a couple seconds to recuperate. _What now Amaya? _I asked myself, just before I lay eyes on the hatch that lead to the deck.

Easy enough, just have to get to the top, Appa was up there too I reckoned.

I took Aang's slim wrist and dragged him up the stairs, our feet creating a dull and hollow-sounding clank. Which, of course, just had to give the metal-men I incapacitated the initiative to get their butts off the floor and hurry after us.

Which was what made me throw Aang, literally, from the top of the steps and out into the open space of the deck. Where I couldn't see him. At all.

"CRAP!" I yelled, goodness I was getting more pathetic by the second, stupid girl can't even protect her charge. I did retain a good portion of common sense, for when the mercenaries were once again on my heels, I took them out.

No hesitation. I wouldn't let the deaths of strangers effect me. I couldn't afford to let the palpitations of my heart get in the way of what needed to be done. The faint tingling in my eyes meant nothing.

I convinced myself of those things time and time again. I wondered when I'd finally start to believe in them.

Five quick slices of wind, fast enough to cut through flesh and bone; the dropping of the bodies barely registering in the peripheries of my vision, and when I finally stepped out of the brig, I didn't take so much one glace backwards.

.:-:.

_The deck of this ship... it shouldn't be so empty..._

The sky was a beautiful blue, puffy clouds drifting lazily around in that wonderful abyss of air and water. _I wonder what it's like to be a cloud..._

"Is your head okay?" Aang's lilting voice startled me out of my thoughts, concern evident despite the shine in his eyes.

I nodded my head, winced from the movement, then tried to cover it up by patting the back of my neck. "Yeah, it was only a small bump." I assured my best friend with a smile. _Understatement, My vision is still swimming. _

"Wait!" He perked up, too loudly for my tastes. I did one more triple check for the guards that should've been there while Aang studied my arms, and turned back to face the way we had come. "Where's your staff?"

"Well... the guy with the scar took it," _I completely forgot, wow, I'm dimming a bit... oh no.. _"B-but it's not important!"

"It's your staff, it's all you have left, of course it's important!" Aang continued, jumping about like we were on a field trip instead of a Fire-Nation ship! Then, he saw the door that undoubtedly led to the control room and all the other important places.

_It's not .. I... have .. you... _"C'mon Aang you know we can't go that way! We'll get caug-" Too late. _Really! Seriously, it's a stick of wood! He's right about a bit of it though... No! It's not worth more than... than..._

Of course, he ran right through that door; and of course, I followed him, shrieking profanities at him the whole way. The adrenaline was back, propelling me down corridor after corridor of maroon and gray blurs

When he was in my line of sight again, I held nothing back.

"This isn't a PLAYGROUND AANG!" I cried, hugging him tightly and allowing myself to press a kiss to his forehead no matter how he would feel about it; the gesture was for me.

Then, the grinding of steel against steel met my ears once again, sending shivers of fear down my spine; for his life, for his safety, for him. It all flashed before me, dozens of plans and tactics and maneuvers; none of them appropriate, not if he saw them.

_**He can't ever know, you must make sure of that. **_

_Yes Monk Pasang, I know Monk Pasang. _I felt strangely empty, repeating that mantra over and over; I would run, taking him with me. The cold seeped back into my chest and spread through my limbs, I could tell from the strange glance Aang gave me before the men thundered around the corner.

Then, he ran straight into them.

"Aang stay _back_!" I yelled, pitch so high I thought it might crack, and the cold was replaced by burning terror. _No no no no no no no..._

Ignoring my warning, my friend held that gleeful expression and halted in-front of the supposed leader of the five. "Hey, you haven't seen my friend's staff around, have you?" Aang asked, pointing to me over his shoulder, not seeing that my cheeks had drained of all colour.

The guards were flabbergasted, at least that's what I gathered from their statue-like positions, since we couldn't get a look at their expressions because of their armor.

Marching swiftly up to Aang, I grasped his arm and was about to begin running again, but I had nowhere to go; the way back out to the deck was blocked by those brainless metal-men. Metal-men who, by the way they started to run towards us, had gotten over my friend's blunt inquiry.

The friend in question was thoroughly unfazed.

He cocked his head to the side, almost as if he was actually expecting them to answer, then exclaimed cheerily. "Thanks anyway!" Evading capture by running around the guards, using the walls and ceiling along with an increase in wind-speeds.

Soon, I was surrounded by the enemy.

I believe he meant to drag me along with him as an afterthought, though I had wrenched my forearm away at the last moment, and when he noticed, he was frantic. "Amaya! Run!"

"Don't stop you _dunderhead_!" I screeched, _I can fix this, I can fix this! _"I'll catch up, promise!"

Aang listened, for once, because after only a moments hesitation he bolted around the corner and farther into this fortress-like vessel, thundering footfalls assuring me of his progress no matter that it was in the wrong direction. _Good good, this is going well, I can take care of all of this now!_

I was glad for their masks, because I was a coward, because I couldn't look into their eyes and strike them down. If I did, I always knew; they had families, they were doing what they thought was best for them and their country.

Yes, the ominous skull-like masks made it okay.

The collection of guards all charged simultaneously, leaving so many openings they could have been mistaken for cheese. Pressure points? No, too slow. I didn't want to... dispatch... so I opted for sliding underneath them and knocking their legs away, the slick floor perfect for that plan.

One of them grabbed my ankle as he was on the way down and panic surged again; I was scared, I was out of practice. I did what I had to do and bludgeoned him in the head with his own hand, at that angle with that amount of force, it killed him.

I tried not to think about the fact that I struck him in the same spot where I had kissed Aang less than sixty seconds before.

.:-:.

Running was always something I enjoyed, even as a child, and it held a place in my heart that could only be rivaled by flying unaided. The workout it gave my body was always beneficial when it came to training, so it was a hobby I was allowed to pursue; I love running.

Just not exactly when it's from soldiers who were out to either capture or kill us.

Aang was directly ahead of me, riding the air-currents in that carefree way that matched his mindset, he was still searching for my staff and nothing I said (or screamed, or whispered, or prayed) made it clear to him exactly how dangerous this situation was.

_Left, left, up, right, left, straight, up, right, up, straight... _Making sure to memorize the turns we had taken, in-case guards cornered us from a different direction and we had to high-tail it back out the door to the deck.

_Right, up, left... _Only, lost in my counting and thoughts of a darker origin, I barely swerved fast enough to keep from toppling my friend over. _ The heck! Why did he stop..?_

Aang's eyes were glued on the room in-front of him, and following his gaze I saw what was so fascinating to him; my stave, just leaning against a uniform metal desk. Though the twin dao-blades hanging on the wall above it were what hitched my breath; from that distance, the small chips in the steel and worn appearance of the grip-cloths wound around the handles were obvious to me.

Whoever owned them knew how to use them, of that I was sure.

What if that person was still in there?

"Aang," I muttered through clenched teeth, clamping down on his shoulder so hard I felt him flinch and tense, guilt would eat at me for that later. "Let me get the staff, if it's so important to you that I have it. Alright?"

"It's okay Amaya, I ca-"

"No! Shut up and listen!" The growl I bit back startled him, fear clouding the innocent look on his face, and a voice in the back of my mind told me I was over-reacting; but what if I wasn't? I'd much rather I get ambushed by a sword-wielding maniac than have him get blown to pieces by one. "You _will_ go back down to the deck, you _will_ hide and wait for me, you will let _me_ take care of this."

The slight, almost imperceptible, quivering of Aang's lip, and the glassy look in his eyes destroyed me; I frightened him that badly? _I... I'm a monster... how... how could I do something so... awful...? _I tried to pretend I didn't care when he nodded shakily and ran back down the corridor like a had slapped him in the face.

_I might as well have, I guess._ No time for self-pity I decided, and before I could back down, run after Aang and leave my stick of driftwood in that room forever; I moved forward, stepping past the threshold of the metal doorway.

It wasn't shocking, not really, that the door creaked shut behind me.

.:-:.

_**~Zuko's PoV~**_

"Looks like I underestimated you." I told the Avatar quietly, annoyed at the time it had taken her and her whelp of a friend to get over whatever petty argument they had been having, the waiting had tried my patience. "Where's your cohort?"

The girl stood only four paces ahead, foolishly standing with her back to me as she answered. "I sent him back to where it is safe."

"No place is safe for people who harbor the Avatar." I growled, narrowing my eyes at the opponent before me.

To my surprise her only reply was a mirthless chuckle and a slow shake of her head, wisps of auburn floating like a halo above the crown of her scalp.

The power the Avatar held was not unknown, far from it, but she was at least two years younger than I; there was no possible way that girl was at the height of her reign. _This will be simple, the girl will be recaptured and then I will be welcomed home._

With a roar, I used my fist and foot as outlets for the searing anger bubbling up inside of me, sending blast after blast of flame towards the Avatar; they never met their mark. It was humiliating. I never saw her rush to her staff, never prepared for her to sweep a wave of air so forceful it would knock me back into the hull.

_Get up! This is nothing, she's weak! I can take her. _I forced myself to stand, to fight that wretch who dared cross me.

All I saw was the flash of orange come at me with horrifying speed.

So the hollow crack that followed was probably my skull as it thwacked against the metal; I couldn't even make it halfway across the floor before she brought me down.

I was given no warning as the attacks came at me one after the other, slamming me into the four walls of the room I thought would be safe for me, familiar colours melding together to create a collage of vertigo and pain.

The only shape I was able to make sense of was the Avatar standing in the midst of that... fire that coursed through me, she had somehow managed to wrap me up in the flag of my nation and disable me that way.

_What a disgrace I am, _I thought, noticing how my breathing came in ragged gasps, how I didn't even land one solid hit on the girl. _To my Nation, to my Father... a permanent disgrace to everything we worked for..._

"Nnngghh." Only permitting a solitary moan to pass my lips, I forced my eyes open and the sudden brightness was shooting pain behind my eyelids, making me blink rapidly to rid myself of the traitorous tears. _She'll walk away now, she'll walk away and I'll have the upper hand again._

At least that's what I thought, but the Avatar was able to ruin that plan as well.

"Here's what I want you to know;" She growled next to my ear, she had hefted me up from the floor by the cloth wrapped around me and rattled me a bit; her voice was cold and low and deadly, almost sending a shiver of fear down my spine. "No matter how far you follow us, however long it takes for you to hunt us down or capture us or for you to get up from that floor again, you will never succeed."

"How ...dare you?"I spat scornfully, then sent a flaming fist straight into her gut, knocking her back against the opposite wall and dropping me unsteadily onto my feet.

The Avatar reacted as if I hadn't just singed a fist-sized mark into her clothing, straightening up and glaring right into my eyes, she replied. "Because I will not allow it." With one last wave of wind from her staff, I was toppled over once more and she ran from my chambers, no footsteps sounded as she careened down the hallway.

Struggling to stand again, as the cloth restricted all of my movement except my right arm, I let out a blast of smoke from my nostrils. I was ashamed, and so very very furious.

I diligently unwound the constricting flag from around my body while being careful not to tear or rip the fabric, which would have been even more disrespectful, then folded it back up and set it on my bed before turning to chase after the wench.

It had just gotten _extremely _personal.

.:-:.

_**Amaya's PoV:**_

"Aang!" I screamed breathlessly, speeding down the hallway, frantically searching the empty side corridors for my friend; all while running as fast as I could away from that Prince and the memories he resurfaced. "AANG! Where are you!"

_Oh God, oh man, oh no, no, oh no, not again, please no. _I couldn't lose him, not in this metal prison of a ship. I vaguely realized that I was moving upwards, and before I knew it, I had passed a blur of orange-yellow that lay tucked up in one of the tight corners.

That was also when I noticed the thundering footfalls coming up behind me, undoubtedly the Prince finally catching up to me after our confrontation in the other room.

_I lost control in there, he was just so much like... like him. _This scared me, almost as much as loosing Aang in that horrible storm had; the boy had threatened him, threatened my charge, and it stirred a ruthlessness inside me that I thought was kept well under lock-and-key.

"'Maya?" Aang's voice, his sweet sweet voice, called timidly out from the crevice and brought my attention back to the predicament at hand. His beautiful face was upturned in a joyful smile, seeming to forgive me already for the cruel way I had spoken to him earlier.

I made a mental note to apologize profusely once we had escaped.

"Yeah, I'm here," My strained whisper seemed to echo all through the ship and made me stiffen at how loud it sounded. "We need a plan, plan plan plan."

The playful gleam was back in Aang's eye, and that expectant grin I loved so much spread cheek-to-cheek, but it dulled almost immediately. "Amaya... Amaya he's right behind you!"

Only I was too far immersed in my recent discovery to heed his warning.

About twenty feet ahead of where we stood, a rusty ladder was bolted to the side of the hull, leading upwards to a hatch covered in soot. I pointed towards it and had my plan. "Look, all we gotta do is run there and clim-"

Then, I had less than a second to curl around him defensively; I had felt the searing heat, taken it as an early warning sign, and the flames soon licked painfully at my back. I shot my left arm backwards in an arc, dropping my staff in the process and ignoring as it clattered noisily on the floor, sent back at my attacker a wave of air so powerful a whistle could be heard.

"Auuugh!" The Prince's growl as he hit the ground let me know that it had hit it's mark, so I used that as an opportunity to get Aang and I up that ladder.

"Go go go go go go!" I screeched as I untangled Aang from the protection of my arms, scooped up my stave, and shoved him ahead to the ladder. Feeling that his clothes were also damp with sweat as I hurried us onwards.

We ran for what felt like forever, but in reality was only ten or eleven seconds; in that corridor the only sounds were the combined wheeze of our ragged breaths, the smack of our feet on the steel floor, and my heart pounding in my ears like a malicious drumbeat.

When we reached the ladder my staff was slipping from my grip; my hands had gotten too clammy and I didn't really know what to do with it. _I can't just leave it here... but the staff isn't important! _I remembered something then, well, more like questioned something.

_Why doesn't Aang have his staff with him? Where is it?_

"What now Amaya?" His voice was so sure, so excited, like this was all a game like the ones he'd play back at the Air Temple; but there was also a tinge of fear lying just behind the naivety.

_Time to lighten the mood... _I thought, pasting a smile of my face before I answered. "We scale this gross and grimy ladder of course, and then, we run."

"Run?" Aang asked, innocent eyes looking at me for an explanation.

"I don't know what's up there," I told him sternly. "So once you get out, I want you to run to Appa or the boat or whatever you used to get here. Okay?"

He simply nodded, which was all the reassurance I wanted. When Aang didn't grin or offer any cheeky response, he knew it was serious.

I knew he'd need an Airbending staff more than I would, he had no knowledge of how to defend himself without one; so I thrust the wood into his hands and practically threw his small body up to meet the hatch in the ceiling.

Watching him scramble through the opening, I began to climb up myself. "Heh, this really is a gross ladder." I chuckled to myself, and had just grabbed onto the trap-door latch when my face was smashed into the rungs.

"Nice to hear your opinion on my ship." The Prince spat, and the constant defining thud of my heartbeat almost stopped. _I shouldn't have wasted time talking! I'm such an idiot! _A hand grabbed me roughly by the back of the neck and flung me around into another metal wall.

A sharp pain in my scalp told me that my earlier wound had reopened, it was my back that hit the steel and the burn he had given me was screaming in agony; this Prince-whoever was fraying my last nerve and I was sick of all the dung he was putting us through.

His eyes were narrowing once more, the one surrounded by the horrible scar becoming merely a slit on his face, and it looked like I was fraying his nerves as well.

_Too bad. _I glared right on back at him, daring 'his Princeliness' to fight me. _I can take you down in less than a minute Firebender._

"Pay attention when I am speaking, you peasant!" The boy roared, all I could see of his feet and fists were magnificent whirls of flame, and they came straight at my face.

Ducking under his legs to escape the onslaught of attacks, I grabbed his ankle and flipped the Prince onto his back once again; then, to truly overpower him, I proved to him my victory by pointing a palm-up hand to his throat, while my other arm rest underneath.

Sending the boy a vicious smirk afterward just so I could rub it in his scarred little face, it felt so good to beat this brat, the cause of all that anguish and solitude and sorrow. _Wait... not... not this one... _I faltered, I had mistaken this Prince for... _him_.

During my revelation, the Prince's eyes had narrowed again, and it took me a moment to actually figure out why.

_I beat him, and fairly, what's so appalling about tha- no... no no no no no no no NO! Not after all that, not after all those years! NO!_

My position, the form used to show your power over a weaker opponent; it was all wrong, totally and completely wrong for the nation I hailed from.

It was a Firebending stance.

Suddenly, that corridor was very stuffy, the air got caught in my lungs and it felt as if I was choking, the grays all swam together.

Fight or flight, that was my choice then; fight and risk worse than a burn on my back that sent agony through me every time I moved, or flee and turn said injured flesh to an extremely dangerous foe as I ran like a coward.

And when it came down to it, that's all I ever really was.

Swiveling around on my heel, I bolted for the ladder and scrambled up it without even having time to think about what could be up there waiting for me. My fingers kept slipping on the sooty grime, it made fleeing so much harder, gave me time to dwell on what had happened.

But anything, anything at all, would be better than staying there.

He had made me so angry! I just didn't think! _At least he thinks I'm the Avatar, I bet he was just angry that I beat him and was trained that well. He doesn't know, calm down._

I couldn't stop, I knew if I did he'd catch up to me and then I'd have to face him. There was that bubbling dread in the pit of my stomach, the one that washed away all of those orders and replaced them with a primal fear that should have been beaten out of me many years ago.

It made me nauseous.

Apparently, the mysterious-hatch-of-doom led up into the observation deck of the ship; in which stood an extremely confused-looking helmsman who didn't seem to realize I was even there, and just continued to stare out the window like a fish.

_That's probably where Aang went then... _I told myself as I ran towards the opening, the knowledge that my best friend was safe on the other side propelling me through the empty pane and into the frost-bitten air.

For a moment, I forgot.

All that existed were me and the wind lifting me up in the sky, allowing me to glide across the currents to make it back home. Cool freedom flowing over my skin and clearing away the pain that seeped so far it embedded itself into my very bones; simply me, lost in the deep blue sky.

Until a calloused hand found it's way around my ankle and tore me from my haven, dragging me down to the deck of the ship below.

I kept enough sense to tuck and roll, saving myself from braking anything, but the action sent my back flaring and I repressed a scream. Inhaling sharply when I ended up on top of something pointy and wooden that liked to jab into my burns.

A staff, and I realized that in just in time too. The scarred Prince was already on his feet and marching swiftly towards me, the patterns of orange flaring angrily in his fists reflected in the molten gold of his eyes.

Flipping on my right hand, the other shooting out to take the object from the ground, I spun into the air and above his head until I landed directly behind the boy, stave extended for battle.

"I think you should take a good look around Avatar." The teenager sneered, turning around to face me with a disgusting scowl plastered on his features. "You're totally outnumbered."

"Doesn't matter," I literally spat at his feet, earning a growl from his lips in return. "I can still take all of you Firebenders down."

"Oh really?" He asked, smirking down at me, and I distinctly got the feeling that one particular boy couldn't run as fast as I hoped he could.

The wood in my grasp gained new weight, W_hat if this is my staff?_ That would mean... that would mean Aang had let it go, _so where is he? _With a flick of my wrist, I opened the lower fan of the glider, and only permitted myself to breath again once I saw a gleam of orange.

By then I was too late to stop Aang charging at the Prince's back, too late to keep the teen from noticing my friend's presence and knocking him five feet towards the ship's edge; I was too caught up in watching the horror unfold that I didn't see how close the guard was until my arms were once again wrenched behind my back.

"You have become a nuisance, one that isn't needed any longer!" The Prince snarled at Aang, continuing to corner him against the guard rail, attacking with blasts of fire the younger boy could only barely deflect.

My chest was constricting in panic, and I fought as hard as I could again that metal-man even though I wasn't able to kill him; Aang might see, spelling disaster, but if I didn't do something my charge would be pushed overboard.

"Let me GO, you STUPID MAN!" I screamed at the soldier, no-one should ever hold me from my duty and get away unscathed. Wriggling my arms and stomping at his feet, each wasted moment meant Aang was that much closer to drowning.

_Oh Gods, please Aang, fight back just until I can get to you. _I was useless, pathetic and weak, I was unable to do the one thing I was good for.

Suddenly a large shadow passed over the deck, bathing everything in dark coolness; it was Appa, and on his back were the two Water-Tribe siblings. I struggled harder, my wrists once again being rubbed raw and bloody by restraints that I pretty much put on myself.

All my concentration was on trying to escape the hold of the metal-man without arising suspicion, but that still is no excuse for allowing what happened next. _Why didn't they descend to help us? Appa could've scared the crap out of those soldiers, so why didn't they?_

One perfectly aimed shot of fire and Aang was blown over the railing, falling quickly to the cold lonely sea below.

"NOOO!" The familiar pressure was crawling up my arms and building up in the back of my skull, it felt like the veins that had the simple purpose of carrying blood were exploding with raw energy. "AANG, AANG!" If not for my gloves and arm-wrappings, the horrid golden glow would be shining from my skin and curling up to my face. The guard's health didn't matter anymore, not when Aang was involved, and I broke both of his wrists to escape his clutches.

Skidding forward on the slick surface of the vessel I bent over the side and stared down at the unforgiving waves, not a disturbance to be seen, no sign that he... that he had survived the fall. Vaguely, my ears registered someone else screaming his name.

I ignored it, there was probably only seconds to spare before he either choked on a lungful water or the Avatar State kicked in; my own glow was still crawling up my body, and the pain it caused to resist was almost too much to bear.

With a leap of faith and the thought that the Prince was right behind me, I pitched myself towards the bleak ocean and squeezed my eyes shut against the biting wind.

_This type of flying isn't the same, _I thought angrily as the choppy waves drew nearer, my body was heavy and that uplifting feeling I relished in the air was nowhere to be found. _Why do the Gods take everything away from us? _

My question went unanswered, and when I finally hit the water it was like it was solid earth, the shock rolling through me as I sank deeper into the frigid depths. All sound was muted, all movement was slowed down, everything was blurry and unclear and my lungs would give out if I didn't work fast because my air supply was already running out.

_No panic, no __**time**__ for panic, just don't let it get to you okay Amaya? Focus, focus, focus! _

Opening my eyes was a bad idea for the salt irritated them completely, but it had to be done; floating around me was a thick peach-colored substance, and I realized it was the paste I used to cover my markings and scars washing off.

Not good, not good at all, if he ever saw them...

I couldn't let it phase me though; not when I had to find Aang in this horribly icy ocean, and just when I caught sight of his bright orange shall, a blinding flare of blue light spread throughout the darkness. The water was pulling me towards him, which was good except for the fact that it was acting as a whirlpool and using the liquid that surrounded me to force the boy upwards to the ship.

Which also knocked me into the side of the metal vessel, shocking me enough that I let out a precious breath.

There was no chance to get it back, and my heart sunk past my feet as I watched the myriad of bubbles dance away to the surface.

Dangerous pressure in my veins and head was still there, if not diluted slightly by the knowledge that Aang was being saved, and streams of gold radiated outwards from my neck and face. If I were to black out from lack of oxygen, the frightening glow would surely take over.

I was disoriented and scared and my head wound had re-opened, mixing crimson ribbons of blood into the maelstrom that was slowly killing me; by then I didn't even know which way was up, let alone have the ability to Waterbend myself out.

It reminded me too much of training; the pain, the agonizing white-hot pain that eventually gave way unto your most primal instincts. Aang was okay, he was alive and going to kick Fire-Nation butt, my own life wasn't worth the risk those instincts would bring.

Up and up and up, it seemed as if I'd never take another breath, never hear Aang's voice or see his wonderful face again. _I don't want to die yet, I can't die yet, please, please make it stop. Gyatso... please help me. Anybody..._

My lungs started to expand and contract of their own accord, ripping daggers through my chest and begging me to give them what I so desperately needed. The only thing keeping me from sucking down water were my lips stopping my mouth from opening, and the conscious effort to not breathe through my nose.

Then, we broke free of the ocean, and I could see light again.

_Thank you... thank you Agni and Tui and La and Koh... wondrous light..._

Next thing I knew I was falling once more, this time to the deck of the ship, and I tucking into a ball so the ending of said fall wouldn't be as brutal. It was always the waiting that I thought was the worst out of everything.

Landing with a sickening 'thwack', I used the precious moments that Aang was attacking to regain my strength and curling up protectively to check for damage. _Breathe Amaya, just.. just breathe and you'll be fine in a few seconds, you can do it! It was simply a... a shock... remember your training! That was nothing, you were a failure Amaya. Okay... okay... time for assessment._

_Toes? _I tried to wiggle them, and they all responded. _Check._

_Fingers? _The same test. _Check. _

_Back, arms, legs, and neck? Check, check, check, and.. ow! _

Thankfully, it was only the wound on my head and not a serious neck injury. _The blood's starting to clot already... _I grinned wearily, and cautiously stood to my full height, running a hand over my face. I felt scars.

"Crap!" I hissed, I had forgotten that the paste had washed off in the ocean; my normal face was a collage of scars, and then there were my whorl-markings... _If any of them see me this way, an excuse will be impossible to come up with..._

I took a good look at what was going on; Aang was wreaking havoc all around, his eyes shone blue with spirit energy as he used Waterbending to knock soldiers aside in a great display of power. _He'll be fine... what if he gets hurt? I just need to get to my pack on Appa so I can reapply the stuff! But Aang... _I had fallen on the far side of the bow, so I was totally out of range of the attacks, and his Bison was slowly making it's way down as well.

"Wait a minute..." I whispered, peering up at the lovable creature. "Aren't Sokka and Katara up there as well?"

"AMAYA!" My inquiry was answered swiftly you see, for that was the elder boy's frantic yell that had just sounded above me. "Amaya are you okay!"

Yanking my hair out of it's already messy braid and using it as a curtain to hide my face, I called back up. "Yeah!"

Only that's when another cry caught my attention, Aang was coming out of the Avatar State, and fast. Seems like the Prince got over the fact I had lied to him and was closing in on my weakening charge, until he sent out one last whip of water that knocked the teenager over the side.

_I hope he drowns. _I thought with a growl, jogging forward to catch my friend before he could hit the deck. _He deserves it for what he did to poor innocent Aang, for keeping me from my duties and impeding my judgment!_

Katara appeared beside me with Sokka in tow, which let me know that Appa had gotten down without any difficulty; but for some reason, I got annoyed at how the younger girl looked at Aang, with wide blue eyes.

"Aang!" She knelt beside me and practically stole him right out of my arms; I grudgingly admitted that it was a good thing, because I couldn't have any of them see my scars and this gave me time to run to the saddlebags. "Are you okay?"

I made sure all of the soldiers were incapacitated before heading towards Appa; if my vanity hurt him... _it's not vanity, if he saw he'd ask about them, you know that! _Slinking towards my old friend, I lifted a hand and pat his velvety nose.

"I just gotta get somthin' okay?" I murmured to him, and I would've sworn Appa's grunt meant 'yes' if he had not been an animal.

Twirling up onto his pillion with a gust of Airbending, I grabbed the small sack that now lay next to two blue sleeping rolls and rummaged around inside in until my fingers wrapped around a small clay jar. Removing it from the bag, I ignored the carvings that I hadn't seen for a hundred years and opened it up, scooping up a palm-full of the peachy paste.

There was a special sequence I used to be absolutely positive that I covered every single distinctive marking; first I spread the paste onto both hands, and then I rubbed the paste into my skin in a full butterfly pattern over my eyes and cheeks, lastly I worked the rest into the sides of my neck and the outline of my face.

"Done." I chirped as I slipped the container back into the sack, and just in time too; because of my foolishness I had missed the beginning of a battle. "No!"

Aang had both of our staffs in his hands, collapsed the furthest away from the soldiers, he looked so fragile and helpless in that moment. Though I hate to say it, I left Katara to fend for herself as I jumped down from Appa's back and ran towards my friend.

"Hi Amaya!" He called out, smiling happily in my direction and holding out a stave, I assumed it was mine. "I kept you staff safe!"

I chuckled, Aang was so... so great in these situations. "Thanks buddy," I told him, grabbing onto the wood and using it to pull him up into my arms. "Now, let's get you to Appa, 'kay?"

"M'kay..." Weariness had found it's way into his tone, which made me double my speed and propel us back onto the bison's fluffy head, where I leaned him against the rise of Appa's back carefully. "Thanks Maya."

"No problem Aang." I assured him with a tender smile, I just loved him so much. _Wait, what? Love him? No no no no no, I love him like a __**brother**__... yeah..._

"Hurry up, Sokka!" The scream that went off right next to my ear made me jump, and I realized that the Water-Tribe girl had climbed up beside me during our conversation, Katara definitely had a pair of lungs on her that's for sure.

Her brother followed shortly after, mumbling some nonsense about 'just being a guy with a boomerang, who didn't ask for any flying or magic'. Even though I completely disagreed with him on the magic part, I could understand how he felt about being dragged into things, Aang used to get me into trouble all the time.

"Yip yip!" I spouted automatically, and Appa took off as soon as Sokka was seated, yay for my use of alliteration.

"We made it" I heard the warrior sigh in relief, and it was only then that I realized how utterly exhausted I was; we were soaring upwards, and I couldn't wait until we passed the cloud-line, it would be safe for me to relax there.

Then, a different voice bellowed from below, breaking me away from my sleepy thoughts. "Shoot them down!"

_That Prince just doesn't give up, does he? _That was something he shared with... well, never mind.

I jolted to my feet and floated to the back of the saddle, and I was prepared to take care of the giant swirling fire-ball that was on a warpath towards us, but Aang got there first.

Swinging his staff like a bat, he conjured up a gale that knocked the projectile aside like an air-ball ball, sending in directly into a towering iceberg beside us. Which started a magnificent chain reaction that ended with the Fire-Navy vessel buried under twelve tonnes of snow and ice.

A triumphant smile worked it's way onto my face as Appa finally cleared the clouds, looking around I could see that everyone else was feeling the same. Pulling Aang over for a congratulatory hug, the fulfilled joy settled back in my heart, and I was sure that wherever we went after this, that Prince would never stand a chance.

.:-:.

**Five months, almost six, of horrid procrastination, and this evil evil chapter is finally complete. **

**Can anyone guess who 'Ku' is? **

**On another note, I need your honest feedback (if you still read this) is Amaya a Mary-Sue? Does this chapter suck? (I am almost afraid to ask) but if she/it is I will fix it ... Just not tonight... (maybe not ever , I am sorry DX ) I am so sorry for the length and the fact this took so long.**

**Please review, even if it is just to yell at me or flame ;_;  
**


	5. Nightmares and Homesickness

**Title: **The Elemental Gift

**Episode: **The Southern Air Temple

**Chapter 5: **Nightmares and Homesickness

**.**

**Author's Note: **This, as well as most of the chapters after this, will be way shorter than chapter four... because chapter four was way too dang long. I am trying to fix the Mary-Sue issues, so please, bear with me. I'd like to that LinkLuver3, OneWorldLife, yourheartspeaksthetruth, and RukagixShinme for being the most helpful, understanding and supportive friends, assisting with and downright fathering brain children for this fanfiction. (Yep, you're my friends now, in for life) **Important note at the end. Also in bold. The rest is just my rambling.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own this awesomeness... it hurts me to say that ;_;

**Song Suggestion: **Secret- The Pierces (I don't know... it doesn't fit.. not really, if you know a better one, just tell me and I'll add it up there, or just listen to your own music)

.:-:.

"_There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home."_

**Dorothy Gale**

.:-:.

Her hands were burning.

_Monk Gyatso grasped the child's tiny wrist, pulling her gently forward, and pushed her sleeve up to rest in the crook of her elbow. "Amaya," he asked softly, eyes shining with curiosity, but voice lilting in concern, "what are these marks on your arms?_

In the memories playing out before her, it's all she could feel: the clawing sting of flames licking at her fingertips and charring her hands beyond recognition. At least, past the point that the lumps of flesh on the end of her arms even felt like hands.

_The poor girl was visibly shaking, for the cause of the gashes and bruises was less than innocent, but she had to say "I-I fell", she __**had**_ _to. Gyatso just wouldn't understand. Monk Afiko was making her __**stronger**__._

Her back was numb, and her eyes began to water as she watched her younger self: her feeble, weak self.

_For Aang's sake..._

Cold tendrils of frostbite danced down her spine, ripping her attention away from her past. They slithered around her shoulders, penetrated straight to the bone, and soon met with the fire that swirled upwards towards her forearms. Her entire body was a mess of opposing signals.

But it was nothing compared to the indecision that haunted her every waking thought, her every waking moment. Self-doubt and insecurity rippled along her facade, so many questions she never got the answers to. Had she made the right choice? Was she working hard enough? Would this make everything better? Was it _worth it_?

_"Ah," The monk sighed, features melting into a kind smile as he ruffled her hair. "Well, you must be more careful from now on child, we can't have you hurting yourself."_

She was writhing in agony, shrieks and whimpers were forced from her mouth every time she moved, filling the endless melancholy around her with echoes of pain.

"_I know..." Amaya whispered, almost as a reassurance to herself, not in reply to the monk's statement._

The girl tore at her face and chest, trying in vain to remove the burning from her skin, and jerked forward erratically in attempt to escape the frozen death making its home on her back.

_She turned sharply, evading any other motions of affection Gyatso could give, and marched quickly from the room. Her steps accentuated by the observer's ragged breathing, moving in time with the memory, as it all slowly crumbled away._

Once she was bathed in darkness, the two elements accelerated in their destruction of her body, merging together, ripping her apart in a searing wave of frozen heat. Then, a faint numbness began in her fingers, spreading up the girl's arms to cover her whole form.

She believed the torture to be over.

Maybe her body had finally gotten used to it, the myriad of unnatural connections in her spirit and her bending. She didn't want to look down and end the comforting illusion, but morbid curiosity took hold and her eyes moved, slowly.

What she saw made her heart skip a beat, made her gag as bile rose up in her throat at the terrifying sight of her own body.

It was slowly following in the footsteps of her memory, disintegrating, turning into dirt. Her eyes went wide, her breaths came in short and too-fast gasps.

She tried to run, thinking she could escape it, but only got a couple steps before her legs crumbled as well. Clawing at the dark air, her own frantic sobs doing nothing but increasing her terror, she realized that groping madly for a hand-hold only caused the murk to slide between her fingers.

_No, please! _She cried, though only in her mind. _Somebody... anybody... Afiko, Gyatso, please! I can't die, I don't... want to die... KUZON, PLEASE! PLEASE HELP ME!_

Her pleas went unanswered, and soon enough, she was simply a limbless torso and head, writhing in its own remains.

She opened her mouth in a silent scream, still pleading with those long dead, as tears ran rivers down her cheeks. The girl's face was swiftly overtaken by the raging decay, and joined the wisps of dusty air swirling about the blackness.

.:-:.

All was still on the shore of the lake, the frigid air keeping even the most irritating of insects from leaving the depths of the forest, and the long strip of pebbled beach held no thirsty creatures that night. Instead, four unlikely allies had set up camp earlier that day, exhausted after hours of continuous flying despite their impatience towards reaching the Air Temple.

The youngest traveler, Aang, was snuggled contentedly into the fur of the sky bison's tail. His chest rising and falling with soft breaths, and young eyes drifting languidly behind his eyelids, dreams filled with friendly laughter. A whole temple of Air Nomads, with new stories and names, running forth to greet him and play once he returned. His people, untouched by war.

Sokka and Katara, brother and sister, were both curled up in their respective sleeping bags beside the great bison. Neither experienced a vivid or detailed dream that night, not one easily remembered anyway. Though the elder sibling was caught in the throes of a quest, one involving peaches, a couple raging penguins, and midnight sun madness.

Moving on.

Next to Sokka, there was naught but damp ground for a good meter and a half, and only if one were to look closely would they see the last member of the group, isolating herself from the cozy atmosphere the others shared.

The girl appeared to be in some sort of discomfort or pain, muscles tensing to the point of locking up, then twitching softly, less severely than expected. She opened and closed her mouth slowly, trying to form words, though only broken, half-murmurs escaped.

Amaya, the second eldest and second last Airbender, was stuck, trapped in some vague place between consciousness and slumber. Fighting against the remnants of a nightmare steeped in reality. No matter how hard she tried, her eyes wouldn't open, sleep wouldn't fade.

If one ignored these faint disturbances, all was quiet, all was still.

Until the Water Tribe boy woke up that is.

"GET AWAY, YOU FLIPPERED MENACE!" Sokka cried, the frenzied scream echoing loud and clear through the forest, his arms and legs flailing in defense. The teenager continued his display for a while longer, before realizing that is was just a dream.

Sokka then slapped his hands over his mouth to silence the noise.

A few moments later, after the boy's panting had ceased, all was quiet.

By some grace of the Gods, his rampage hadn't woken anyone up! Phew. He thought, feeling relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with Katara this early, and wiped an imaginary sweat drop from his forehead. That was definitely a close one.

Sokka leaned upright on his forearms, ears straining for any sign of trouble. He hated waking up in the middle of the night.

The warrior was a little restless, unable to get comfortable again, and the darkness was making him a tad uneasy. Owls were hooting, and he swore he heard more than the wind rustling in the forest. So before going back to sleep he busied himself with menial tasks, rearranging his makeshift pillow and adjusting the sleeping bag by rolling some pebbles out from under it.

_Boomerang still within grabbing distance?_A hand groped through the dirt until it met bone, pulling the weapon closer. _Yep._

Sighing in annoyance and scrunching further down into the warmth of the blankets, Sokka shut his eyes.

_...What was that? _The boy shot up, fist clenched around his boomerang.

Off to the side, not where Katara lay but in the other direction, where the night was thicker, there was a whimper. He knew that sound well. It was the whine of a dying breath, when his strike hadn't been clean, and the creature was left to die in prolonged agony.

A sound of defeat and pain, coming from where Amaya was sleeping.

_Maybe I just imagined it, _Sokka waited, listening for any other noises. _Yeah, I'm just letting this campsite get to me... _Then it happened again.

He slipped quickly out of the sleeping bag, ignoring the chill that ran though him due to the cold air, and made his way slowly over to the source. His pupils dilated, taking in as much light as possible and scouring the ground for clues.

There was no movement, nothing except for a large shape sprawled over the earth.

Until the whimper was heard again, and the girl's body twitched suddenly, making the warrior rush to kneel before her fallen form.

"Amaya," he whispered and leaned down closer, staring into her pale face, which was contorted in some indescribable emotion. "Amaya, are you okay?"

Her trembling grew more rapid, shaking her entire body non-stop. Another moan reached the ears of the boy, startling him into placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Amaya!" Sokka's voice rose with alarm as he shook the girl, trying to get her out of it, whatever 'it' might have been. "C'mon, Amaya, you okay? Wake up!"

Suddenly, her eyes shot open and her hand flew forward, violently clamping down upon his. When this received only a shocked silence, she began tightening her grip, slowly crushing it against her shoulder and making the older boy cry out.

"Th-this isn't _funny_," Sokka hissed, tugging at his arm, fighting against Amaya's hold. "Cut it out!"

Her eyes bore into his, almost as if they were staring directly into his soul. The girl's pupils dilated wide enough to reflect the millions of stars overhead, leaving only a sliver of iris visible, and her gaze was steadfast. However, when Sokka dared stare back into the abyss, he saw not the anger he expected, but fear.

Amaya was terrified.

Then, just as quickly as she had attacked, the Airbender retracted her hand and turned her back to the stunned boy. Effectively closing herself off from the multiple questions that were swimming through his thoughts, keeping him out of her head.

If only because of the time of night, the inhibited perception of the boy and the fog in both their minds, it worked. No questions were asked, no suspicions aroused.

_'Maybe it was just a nightmare...' _Sokka reasoned, and after careful consideration, he realized that he was overreacting. _'Yeah, everyone gets freaked out when they're woken up from something like that.' _The warrior decided he was too tired, that he had imagined the intense pain in Amaya's face.

So, with those thoughts keeping his investigative side at bay, the Water-Tribe boy slunk back to his sleeping bag and cocooned himself in the fading warmth. When morning came, he would hardly remember this new side of Amaya.

But if he had waited for another moment, he would have heard Amaya's raspy whisper, calling out to him in thanks.

.:-:.

_**Amaya's POV:**_

I had forgotten how beautiful it was, flying on Appa, I mean. Having the privilege of seeing the world from thousands of feet above the ground, the wind in your hair and the scent of morning caressing your senses.

The land beneath us was covered with rolling hills of lush green, and dotted amongst the fields were the puffs of treetops, a darker hue than the grass surrounding them. Looking closely, I noticed a small river cutting through the valley, the water so clear that I could spot tiny blobs leaping in and out of the waves.

Leaning my chin on my hand and letting my lips twitch upwards in a semblance of a grin, I inhaled deeply. Crisp, cool air filled my lungs, tasting of light citrus and, if it makes any sense, the beginning of fall.

_'I missed this more than I realized.'_

Tucking some hair behind my ear, I looked up. The clouds were only a few feet above us, so if I had felt the need, I could have reached up and touched them. Sure they were made of water, but it was more the principle of the thing.

Knowing that we were so close to the sky, it was amazing.

A smile wormed it's way onto my face, and I couldn't help but giggle like a little girl. This just felt so free, so normal.

If I closed my eyes, I could pretend that Katara and Sokka weren't there. It was simply me and Aang, like it used to be. No iceberg taking us away from home, no Southern Tribe to be wary of us, and no ruthless Firbender chasing us.

Forgetting my injuries, I relaxed against the rough edge of the saddle, and immediately tensed up at the searing pain that shot through me. I grit my teeth and hissed in surprise, keeping in the shriek that tried to escape.

The skin of my back, which was in worse shape than I originally believed, was charred. I could _feel _it splitting as pressure was put upon it. '_Seems like that leaf paste did more harm that good,' _I thought with a groan, slumping forward in my seat.

Last night, after Sokka had woken me up, I hadn't wanted to go back to sleep, I was too scared. So instead I had gone looking for plants that could be used to heal my wounds. Unfortunately, the only thing I could find with even an ounce of medicinal potential was the prickles of the naan bush, and all they did was provide a mild numbing sensation.

_'At least once we get home I'll be able to find some leechi trees, those leaves are much more soothing anyway,' _I reasoned, hugging my knees and resting my chin upon them, keeping Aang clear in my sights. I refused to let anything happen to him, it was my job to keep him safe and I almost failed.

I almost _failed_.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Sokka rummaging around in his pack, before turning and eying me suspiciously.

I blew it last night, I completely and utterly blew it. There was no way of knowing if he suspected anything, he could have forgotten or thought it was simply a nightmare, but asking would make everything worse.

Dreams hadn't plagued me for a long time, and I prayed that they wouldn't become the norm.

"Hey!" Sokka cried, and my head jerked around so fast, thinking we were under attack, that some of my hair got stuck in my mouth. "Who ate all my blubbered seal jerky?"

_'How long has it been since I've had jerky?' _I wondered, staring longingly at the empty bag Sokka was shaking around as my stomach growled with hunger. It was only when I unconsciously licked my lips that I came to my senses. '_No, just forget all about it. I'm vegetarian remember, I don't eat or like meat! It's cruel and against what I was taught.'_

"Oh, that was _food_?" Aang exclaimed, tilting his head slightly. "I used it to start the campfire last night, sorry!"

Sokka continued to complain in the background, but I didn't give him a second thought, instead I looked out over the clouds with a sigh. _Why am I so rusty? I need to get my head back in the game, I have to make them proud._

"Aang," I chided lightly as an afterthought, trying to act normal. Like I wasn't in pain for my foolishness, like I could actually do my job. "You really should've asked before going through his stuff."

"I _know_," He replied dramatically, playing along with a smile until the Batola mountain range came into view. "Amaya look, we're almost there!"

"Yeah..." I whispered before falling silent, my gaze fixed upon the horizon, searching the empty sky for the telltale blue peak of the temple. My heart pounded in my ears and a wave of desperate homesickness washed over me. There had to be Air Nomads left, there just had to.

_'Afiko would never have gone through with it.' _Fingers curled tightly into the fabric of my pants and I chewed on my bottom lip, keeping myself from lashing out in worry._ 'Maybe h__e was joking, what if they weren't serious?'_

"Hey," I jumped at the sudden hand on my shoulder, and then tensed up as both my back and my arms screamed in protest. It was Sokka, and his nearness put me on edge. "You okay? You're acting a bit jumpy..."

Ducking away from his touch I chuckled, gritting my teeth as I waved a gloved hand in dismissal. "Just anxious is all, and a bit excited. I mean, I haven't been home for so long, things must be so different..."

"Well no duh," He scoffed, leaning casually against his navy blue pack. "It's been a hundred years."

Only, when I looked him in the eye, his were just full of apologetic sympathy, and it made me wonder what he wasn't telling me. Their Gran-Gran _did _say that no-one had seen a Nomad for at least that long, but we had no need to leave much anyway, the temples _could_ be self-sufficient.

Right?

Convinced as I was, a shadow of doubt was still weighing heavily in the forefront of my mind, and a lump of dread formed in the back of my throat. _'__There's no way, none at all. Even he wasn't that selfish...'_

Keeping my hands in my lap and my eyes on the carefree boy who sat up front with the Water-Tribe girl, guilt stewed in my heart. I swallowed thickly and tried to start my breathing exercises, to calm myself down, but they weren't working. All I felt like doing was throwing up.

_'If they're... if they're actually dead, _I sniffed and wiped my nose on the back of my hand, _it'll be my fault. Spirits, it'll be all my fault... I could have done so much more.'_

Sokka was looking at me weirdly again, and I didn't blame him; I was a mess. A stupid, useless mess who couldn't take responsibility for her own actions and didn't have the spine to confront her own teacher.

Before he could mention my near hyperventilation, I dared to ask about what I didn't really want to know. "Do you think they're gone, truly?"

But before he could answer, Katara apparently found it her place to swoop down and start talking about our people, despite the fact her brother already was... kind of.

"Aang, Amaya..." She began uneasily, turning to face us and shifting awkwardly in her seat. "Before we get to the temple, I want to talk to you about the Airbenders..."

_'She's just trying to help, it's not like she's doing anything wrong,' _I scolded, and began to feel ashamed at my own childish behavior. '_I have to stop being so... irritable towards her. It's not her fault... it's not anyone's fault but my own.'_

"What about 'em?" Aang asked carelessly, which only confirmed that he had no idea of what had been happening before we were frozen.

Of course, how would he? I had been the one to witness Afiko and the Fire Lord discussing their plans, the burden fell upon _me_ and no other, even if that burden was in the from of a passing assumption. _A passing lie, _I reminded myself quickly.

"Well, I just want you to be prepared for what you might see." She continued carefully, giving Aang and me a pitying look. "The Fire Nation is ruthless. They killed my mother and they could have done the same to your people."

_'Like I don't know that,' _I sighed, I needed to be more optimistic. "Katara, the Air Temples were built on top of huge mountains, the Fire Nation would have had more than enough trouble trying to get _up, _let alone invade."

"Exactly!" Aang agreed, smiling lightly. "And just because no one has _seen_ an Airbender doesn't mean the Fire Nation killed them all. They probably escaped!"

_'See, he's probably right.' _My own worries were snuffed, for now at least, but that didn't mean the Waterbender was going to give up.

"I know it's hard to accept-"

"You don't understand, Katara." He explained slowly, cutting her off. "The _only way _to get to an Airbender temple is on a flying bison, and I doubt the Fire Nation has any flying bison. Right, Amaya?"

I hesitated before grinning fully and confirming, "Right!" I wasn't really sure of what we would find, and despite what I thought I had seen all those years ago, there was no way of knowing for sure.

"See guys, there's nothing to worry about!" Aang said, smiling at the siblings and turning back to face the mountain range, giving Appa's reins a deft flick of his hands. "Yip-yip!"

Our old friend rose steadily upwards, clearing the tops of the pine trees that grew from a pile of boulders jutting off of the mountain. _'S__eems like there was a rock slide not too long ago,' _I noted, seeing the debris and crushed plant life beneath the rocks. _'__We'll have to watch out for those...'_

Then, almost as if on cue, the very top of the tallest tower appeared on the horizon, its blue roof glinting in the sunlight. Soon the rest of the temple came into view, and even though the stone was more worn down and faded than the last time I had been there, it was still magnificent. I could see everything from our position; the Air Ball field, the central square, even behind the building to the courtyard where the bison lived.

"There it is..." I whispered in awe, though the others could hear me clearly, and my defensive posture slackened just a bit. "The Southern Air Temple..." The lump in my throat was back, but this time it was because it just hit me.

I was terribly homesick, more so than I thought I was. I wanted to see the monks and train with my teacher, I wanted to tuck Aang into bed after one of his nightmares and be able to tell him with certainty that he was perfectly safe; but I had a horrible feeling that nothing was going to fulfill that want. Eyebrows scrunched together, I forced those thoughts away along with my remaining guilt, it wasn't the time.

Behind me I saw that Sokka followed my earlier lead, his jaw dropping comically, while Katara perked up in wonder and exclaimed. "It's amazing!"

Aang looked me in the eye, we shared a hopeful smile, and though I didn't deserve it in the least, I knew then that he still saw me as his best friend. With that in mind I moved up beside him and grabbed his hand, twining our fingers together before giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"We're home buddy," He said, ruffling Appa's fur as he clutched my hand, returning the squeeze and not loosening his grip one bit . "We're home."

* * *

Yeah I know, I am a horrible updater, and I understand if you guys are fed up with my horrid writing continuity and failure to post chapters in an orderly manner.  
However, this story _**will **_be finished; it may take years and years (heck, it probably will), but I swear that one day you'll see this and it will be complete.**  
ANYWAY, I would really appreciate feedback. If I am doing something wrong, please tell me. Am I telling and not showing? Is the writing style really choppy (as I noticed it was in earlier chapters and cringed)? Is Amaya a Mary-Sue? Do you think I've lost the characters' voices? Anything at all, I just want to get better at this.**  
Thank you, all of you guys, for sticking with me through this sporadically updated endeavor.  
**P.S. Chapter six is halfway completed, sorry for how short and filler-y this one was.**


	6. Ashes to Ashes

**Title: **The Elemental Gift

**Episode: **The Southern Air Temple

**Chapter 6:** Ashes to Ashes

**.**

**Author's Note: **Welp, here we go! Thank you again to all those who have reviewed, favourited, and put this story on alert. Without you guys I probably would have never finished the third chapter, let alone be posting the sixth! And oh god, the _quality_ of the first couple chapters, how did you even make it this far without tearing out your eyeballs? I should probably rewrite them eventually...

**Disclaimer: **Blah-de-blah, I know I don't own it, obviously.

**Song Suggestion: **Calls Me Home- Shannon LaBrie

.:-:.

"_A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic."  
_Joseph Stalin

.:-:.

Despite what I convinced myself of during our descent, and no matter how many times I told myself nothing would have changed, there was a definite air of difference surrounding the temple. Almost as if it was stuck forever in a single moment, like our home was cursed with immortality as soon as we ran away.

This curse, it did nothing but leave decaying stone in place of once great towers, and replace life with the stench of death. It swirled around us, filling my mouth and lungs with its thick stench, making me gag.

I wanted desperately to run up beside my friend and grab his hand, heck, I wished I never let it go in the first place. My previous mantra of it's going to be okay was broken as soon as I set foot on the cracked path, even I couldn't bear the emptiness of the place._ 'But, why hasn't he seen it yet?'_

Aang lead the way through the empty grounds, acting as if he would find all his friends just around the next corner, and it looked like Katara was slowly regaining her excitement high. Meanwhile, as I trailed behind Sokka and my feet dragged on those crumbled cobblestones, dread continued to claw at my insides.

_'It seems I was right after all.' _There was no way there were other people here, not anymore. We would have been mobbed with playful boys as soon as we landed if the Airbenders still called this place home. _'Maybe they migrated, maybe... maybe their desertion had nothing to do with Afiko after all!'_

The lie was obvious, no matter how many times I whispered it aloud.

Even though I had never spent much time with the other kids, the thought of them running for their lives terrified me. The few I had seen, and the fewer still who had talked to me, they were happy and free, like Aang.

_'Look at it now, so dull and broken and... everything... the walls and the trees and the people, just turned to __dust.' _I shivered, a cool breeze sending a tingle down my spine.

"So, where do I get something to eat?" The boy beside me asked, rubbing his stomach as it growled.

Rolling my eyes and sighing, I gave him my best unamused look. "We ate last night, it hasn't been _that _long since then. You'll be fine."

"We ate leaves and berries," He deadpanned. "That's rabbit-chick food. I'd rather eat the rabbit-chick!"

"There's nothing wrong with a vegetarian diet." I said, pretending I had never thought about it or eaten meat myself, and didn't think twice about twisting the truth. "In fact, all the Air Nomads are vegetarian, including Aang and me."

Sokka recoiled and his face scrunched up in disgust. "You mean, no _meat_? How did you survive!"

I pinched the bridge of my nose in disbelief, _'This guy...' _

Katara heard her brother's outburst and turned around, her expression mirroring my thoughts. "You're lucky enough to be one of the first outsiders to _ever_ visit an Airbender temple and all you can think about is food?"

He shrugged lazily, moving ahead of us and explaining. "I'm just a simple guy, with simple needs."

_'There's more to life than eating,' _I mused, consciously keeping my eyes fixed straight ahead so I wouldn't have to look at the dried up aisle of earth that banked the cliff side.

Just yesterday it held the most dazzling colours, blues and purples and reds and yellows, flowers of all shapes and sizes. But all that remained now were shriveling weeds, their gray roots and muted greens peeking up through the cracks in the ground.

It was such a short time ago, and still everything found time to die.

I shook my head slowly, in denial as well as to move my bangs out of my eyes, and let out a shaky breath. _'Not a day Amaya, remember? It's been a hundred years. Now stop whining and act your age.'_

Soon we had trudged up the small incline, not bothering to stop and investigate the deserted corridors we passed, and were met with a clear view over the crest of the hill. Directly in-front of us and down was a small parapet carved into the mountain face, while to the right was a grassy knoll and paddock.

Raising a hand to block the glaring sun, I scanned the area, but the name of the strange rocky space escaped me. Poles of varying heights, though all were more than thrice as tall as I was, were stuck in the ground and packed together densely. Square planks of wood stood on stilts at either end of the field, with a hinged circular piece in the center that served as the net.

_'It's a game field, I know that for sure, but what's the game __called__?' _I had played it only once, when I was really really young, and that was only because it was supposed to help with my agility and accuracy. _'Afiko called it -Peg and Shoot-, but that wasn't its actual name. It was something -ball... Net Ball? Peg Ball? Wind Ball?' _

"So, that's where my friends and I would play Airball!" Aang said, bringing me out of my reverie and pointing vaguely to the field with a smile, I could almost see the memories playing behind his eyes.

"Ah ha, Airball.." I mumbled, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. How could I have forgotten such an obvious name?

Katara looked on with her eyes widened in appreciation, and it seemed like Sokka was trying his best not to be impressed with the temple as a whole.

Meanwhile, Aang continued with his tour of the grounds. "And... over there would be where the bison would sleep..." The light slowly drained from his smile, had the emptiness finally gotten to him? "and..." He trailed off, the corners of his mouth drooping completely, shoulders slumped with a sigh.

It was like a shot straight through my heart.

I wanted to say something, anything, that could bring his carefree grin back, but my tongue was a dead-weight in my mouth. My hands twitched at my sides, longing to bring him into a reassuring hug, but when I took a step forward Katara had already spoken up.

"What's wrong?" She asked him, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

That's what spurred me to walk up to Aang's side and nudge him softly in the arm, making sure he knew I understood. Of course, I didn't forget to bump Katara out of the way with my shoulder as I passed, though she most likely thought it was an accident. _'What's wrong? What do you think is wrong! Spirits, how can she be so stupid?'_

Fortunately, Aang didn't see my petty display and had no problem spelling it out for her.

"This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison." He said, deflating further and further with each word. "Now there's just a bunch of weeds."

Even though it was strange, especially twice in such quick succession, I grabbed his hand and softly twined our fingers. It was the only way I knew how to comfort him without thoroughly embarrassing us both.

His eyes held a faraway look, and the tingle was back behind my eyelids as he continued. "I can't believe how much things have changed."

Suddenly, Katara and Sokka appeared on Aang's other side, their eyes swimming with worry.

"So, uh," Sokka began, his voice stuttering nervously. "this Airball game? How do you play?"

With those simple words, my friend perked up instantly, grabbing the warrior's arm and almost dragging him down to the field with unnatural speed. The older boy stumbled over his own feet a few times, calling out desperately for Aang to slow down.

I chuckled, glad that his mood had been improved, but I knew it wouldn't last for long. The abandoned temple was calling to me, my curiosity peaking as well as my dread. I told myself that, even though I didn't want to leave Aang alone with these almost-strangers, if there was anything that could harm him I needed to find it first.

Sadly, I couldn't just up and disappear, at least without worrying Aang, and the only person around to tell was...

"Katara," I called, drawing her attention away from the Airball match as I made a small waving motion up the hill. "I'm just going to go take a look around... it's been a bit of a, uh, shock for me also, and... and I want to see what's changed..."

"Do you want me to come with you?" She asked, facing me fully now, a slight expression of confusion spread across her face. "I mean, as much fun as it is to watch my brother get knocked over, it'd be nice to see more of everything."

With a curt shake of my head and the conscious attempt not to bite out a scathing retort, I refused, "I'd rather go by myself, if that's alright..."

"Oh, of course." Katara said with a kind and knowing smile, "I understand." She then made the rest of the way down to watch the two boys play, leaving me to head the other direction in silence. Was I that obvious?

_'What's wrong with me? She's been nothing but nice to us since we came out of the iceberg.' _I spat, stomping up the hill, not understanding the strange tightness that rose in my chest whenever Aang looked at her funny. Was I getting sick? _'She invited us into her home, defended us against her own people, and how have I repaid her? By being a judgmental jerk!' _

With another short cry of irritation, kicking a pebble out of the way to vent in the process, I stopped my trek and found myself at the lower entrance of the temple. The trail leading towards it was worn down, and I could no longer see the indents of my or Afiko's footprints. Instead, it looked like it was trampled flat by a herd of air-bison.

I stared down at it for a moment, unsure of what I was feeling. Afiko, as unconventional as his methods were, was my mentor and my father figure, like Gyatso was to Aang. He had taught me all he knew, cared for me, named me, and I didn't know what fate had befallen him.

He betrayed us, but he was still my dad.

I didn't know when I had decided to head to the catacombs, as that was the only place other than the infirmary that this entrance lead to, unless you took the stairs, but I now saw no other option. After all, I had never spent much time anywhere else, besides Aang's room and the Elders' hall.

_'Even after all that?' _Still in the routine, despite all that had happened, but I shrugged it off. _'Old habits die hard I suppose.' _

From inside I heard a faint echo, my heart speeding up as it began to sound like laughter, and the shadows that loomed beyond the doorway sapped my anger away just like _that_.

I was scared, terrified really, and not only for Aang this time.

"Come on, buck up!" My voice was sharp and surprisingly loud, slicing through the dead air with ringing clarity. "You _live_ here, nothing to be afraid of, nothing at all!"

That being said, it still took a couple minutes to shake off the jitters and step inside. As soon as I did, all sounds became muted, the scent of _old _filled my nostrils, and everything else took on varied shades of gray, hazy because of the dust lingering in the air.

With sunlight that shone in from the entrance being one of few light sources in the corridor, which made me squint to see anything beyond the designated path, I began to make my way through the infirmary. Or, I should say, what had once_ been_ the infirmary.

Musty, broken cots lined the walls, hardly distinguishable from the piles of crumbled stone that littered the floor. I could see that, down by the end of the hallway, more light streamed in through larger holes and illuminated the wooden door to the catacombs.

I had spent a few of my worse days in those beds, until my frequent visits were found suspicious and Afiko began treating me himself, but at that time there were many healers, bustling about with smiles and kind words.

What would have happened to them?

There was an itch in the sides of my eyes, calling me to take a closer look at those heaps of broken wall, but that ever constant chill told me that I really didn't want to. They were too strange, too menacing, the shadows that dove in-between the heavy shapes laying on the floor.

So trapped in my thoughts as I was, I didn't see the wayward object until I had tripped over it.

"Holy Koh!" I yelped, my arms pinwheeling as I tried to keep from falling over, but then my foot caught on the edge of the whatever-it-was and I was sent sprawling onto my face.

The object rolled back, clattering loudly across the cobblestones before slowly coming to a halt somewhere behind and to my left. Rising up and leaning on my elbows, I turned to inspect it, but what I saw made me freeze.

It was a Fire Nation army helmet, turned with its back facing me.

My fingers found purchase in the dirty tiles, helping me stand and move slowly towards it, I had to confirm, maybe it was just a trick of the light? With each step the feeling stuck harder in my gut, the itch to look closely at the felled shapes became stronger, and this time I knew what to expect.

I had to look, I just had to, there was this physical need and I couldn't ignore it, not for any longer.

_'No... please no...' _Why did I have to look? Why couldn't I have just listened to myself?

All around me were the bodies of the fallen, their skeletons wiped clean after a century of rot, and clothing hung limply on their frames. They were piled along the walls, underneath or around the cots, Airbender and Firebender alike.

Every one of them, dead.

I didn't know how to react, to carnage that was so carelessly strewn about. Death and destruction had followed me for all of my life, I was taught to put it behind me and move on, but it was never like this. I knew these people, these Airbenders, they had cared for me, put up with me, and now...

The helmet glinted in the fading sunlight, giving me something else to focus on, and my curiosity peaked. I moved hesitantly towards it, my feet dragging on the stones, kicking up dust, and I knelt down, not paying attention to the sharp edges that dug into my shins.

I reached out, a tentative hand shaking.

It was rough, the metal, and coated in a thick layer of dust. As I maneuvered the helmet to get a better look at the make of it, one thought haunted me, ricocheting in my head.

_'Who did you belong to?'_

Then, when I turned it to inspect the front, I froze, and my heart lept into my throat.

A skull was still inside, strips of flesh still clinging to dull white cheekbones. The jaws hung open in a gruesome smile, empty eye sockets were bottomless pits that saw no light.

With a shriek I tossed it off to the side and scrabbled back on my hands, trying to get as far away from it as possible. Launching to my feet, almost tripping again on... on another bone that lay in the center of the path, I shot down the remaining stretch of corridor with the help of an air blast.

_'Oh Spirits, oh please, oh no oh no no no..' _Hyperventilating, that's what you could call it. My chest tightened in dread as a repeatedly denied what was right in-front of me. _'Safety, safety, oh Spirits please.' _

The door to the catacombs was getting closer and closer with each passing second, I was almost there!

I skid to a stop, almost crashing into the wooden plank that served as a door, and immediately grabbed onto the rusted handle, yanking on it with all my might. I tugged and tugged, but to my despair, it didn't budge, not one inch, no matter how much I pulled.

Only then did I take a closer look, and I paused for another moment, wondering why. Someone had nailed boards over it, sealing the entrance, impeding my escape.

The boards were old and smelled extremely musty, crumbling away when I clawed at them, getting rotten wood stuck under my fingernails.

It looked like I wasn't the only one who tried to get it open, but from the wear on the other scratches, it must have been when they were first put up. Why, though? To everyone else, the catacombs were deserted, so nothing of importance was ever kept inside. And there was never any need to have it locked, let alone sealed up this way, so what changed?

_'Perhaps.. to keep the Fire Nation out...' _But again, why? The Fire Nation knew all about me, to try and keep them away from here was pointless at best.

My fingertips ran over the grooves and indents, exploring every inch of the sodden barriers, searching for a weak spot where I could pull them out fully. _'Ouch! What the..?' _Something had nicked my palm, and it stung like mad.

Straining my eyes in the dim light, I found the object, and at first couldn't believe it.

A long gray _fingernail_ was stuck in the wood, down near the corner, a sure sign that _somebody _had thought that the catacombs held special things.

Soon though, it dawned on me. _'They weren't trying to get __into __the catacombs, they were trying to get __out__ of the infirmary... Oh Spirits, they tried to escape...'_

And that was why the door was sealed. Not to keep anything secret, but to make sure that none of the Airbenders found a way out.

"That's... that's just horrible.." I whispered, the sick feeling back in my chest, and I slowly took my hands off the wood.

With no second thoughts, I blew the door off it's hinges, boards and all.

_'I can't stay here any longer, I can't be surrounded by those bodies.'_

Then, I ran through the entrance, not stopping even when the damp chill seeped into my skin. It was dark, and even more silent than where I just left, the only sound being the drip-drop of water on rocks far below. Up ahead there used to be a ladder, but from the looks of the door it wouldn't be much use.

So when I came to the circular passage in the floor with a sudden drop, instead of climbing down slowly and carefully, I jumped, throwing my hands out to the sides to steady my fall. The walls were slick with moss and dew, the occasional jagged stone sliced into my palms but I didn't care, all I wanted was to...

_'What am I looking for down here?'_

The truth is, I didn't know, but as the ground flew up towards me at an alarming speed I had no time to contemplate it any further without risking a broken ankle. _'How would I get back up with a broken ankle?'_

Drawing the air in around my feet, I managed to slow down enough that all I had to do was bend my knees. The rest of the landing, though sending a shock up to my hips and mild surprise when I landed into shin-deep water, went smoothly.

I was blind and I was deaf, natural light had no way of getting down this far, and any sound that could have penetrated through the layers of earth was lost to the winding tunnels of the catacombs. My legs were soaked, and my fears of sightlessness were resurfacing.

"Just keep moving," I said, squeezing my eyes shut and trying to ignore how creepy my echo was, I began to push through the murky water.

Where the infirmary had smelled of dust and mold, these caves smelled of rot and damp. Trailing one hand lightly along the wall so I wouldn't lose my way (no matter I knew these tunnels like the back of Afiko's hand, I wanted to be sure to get to the right place), I could feel the slime and algae that had formed after years of wet. At least, that's all I hoped it was, without light I didn't know definitely.

The only sounds were the sloshing of the sludge and my own heavy breathing.

I didn't dare light any of the torches, presuming that they were still affixed to the wall, the oil could have spilled out into the small river I was wading in, which would spell disaster. Heck, the oil probably dried up and left me with no means of lighting anything but the palm of my hand anyway.

However, I didn't do that either. I was still recovering from my overuse of power the day before and I didn't want to face the consequences. Not down here, not alone in the dark.

_'Almost there,' _I thought, pressing even closer to the cave wall, lifting my feet carefully as not to trip and fall into the muck. _'Inhale, exhale. Just a few more turns.'_

I was right, of course, with another right and two lefts, during which the water level sunk to an even half-inch, I was stepping into the main room. Only, it felt different, and not simply the aged difference everything else had.

Moving forward cautiously and reaching out with my toes, keeping alert for any fallen rocks or teeny mud critters, I scanned the high ceiling for the small skylight that should be there. It was the only source of natural light, however that was dependent on whether a set of doors were open, as it opened in the center of the Avatar chamber.

Which I doubted, seeing as it too was sealed off.

There, right in front of me, was the faint outline of a stone table, which I recognized right away, but everything else was completely unrecognizable and broken-looking. Assuming tha- wait a minute, I could see it. _'I can see it?... So, where's the light... coming from?'_

It was no longer pitch black, instead it had shifted into a dark gray when I wasn't paying attention. My eyes darted back and forth until I finally spotted the source, yes, the sky light was still there. It shone a pale beam down on an angle, illuminating a pile of fallen boulders and reflecting on the shallow water.

I wondered if the torches were still on the walls in this section of the catacombs, but with the hole in the ceiling it would be all to easy for someone to look down and see me if I were to light them.

Because, with that opening giving me light, Aang had to have already opened the doors to the Avatar room, he and Katara and Sokka must have already been inside. If they were to stand in the center of the chamber upstairs, and I were produce light, my Firebending would be revealed.

I was no longer wary of the pain, my oversensitivity surely wore off.

Repeating my movements from the earlier passageways and continuing to be careful of possible obstacles, I kept with my half-blind search of the chamber. This had been the work room, the training room being down another winding set of tunnels, and I was trying to find something.

Anything really, a pot of cover-paste for my scars, Afiko's notes, a set of armor, any item that I recognized. Proof that it really happened.

_'Screw this,' _Getting frustrated with my lack of success, I lit a ball of flame in my hand and raised it over my head, they wouldn't look down here anyway, too many Avatar statues to gape at. _'There, this'll be much easier!'_

Scanning the remains of the chamber, a soft orange glow now pressing upon the shadows, I took in all the details I had missed, and was shocked. Before, even though I saw the debris, I didn't think it would be this _bad_. An entire wall had collapsed, along with half of the stalagmites that used to hang from the roof, and only the half where I stood still had any floor space left.

My mouth opened and closed, gasping like a fish out of water, my feet moving to spin in a circle as I took it all in, sending ripples in all directions. There were decomposing strips of parchment littered in one dry corner, pieces of what had once been clay pots strewn haphazardly on top, and that table I saw before was actually overturned with a crack down the middle.

Yes, seeing my home in this state was troubling, but it was just a room. Whatever had been lost could be rebuilt, repaired, remade, material possessions weren't important enough to fret over. They were just... just things after all.

_'I suppose that's my proof' _I thought, fidgeting anxiously. _'But, there's something I'm missing'_

Quiet and sad, that was my home. Those things were _my _things, _my _memories that were trashed on the ground.

I caught sight of one single torch hanging askew on the wall, and forgetting the risk I sent my flame towards it, igniting it so my hands were free. _'What happened to 'they're just things'?' _Morals niggling behind my ears, condemning me for caring. _'Tsk, what would they think of you, selfish child?'_

On the edge of panic I ran forward to the collage of broken stuff, fortunately untouched by damp, turning this way and that. Old belongings crunched beneath my feet as I searched frantically.

For what, well, that I did not know.

On my hands and knees I scoured through the fragments of clay and dusty pages, skimming over phrases like 'it finally made progress' and 'correspondence is going as planned', not stopping to wonder about the second and instead fumbling in the dirt for _something _I could take with me.

The old pots of paste were useless, shattered beyond repair, their contents long since dried. Old inkwells and calligraphy brushes. Smashed plates, wood splinters, stone from the table, sticks of incense, lumps of wax and feathers and a slate from a bamboo scroll and every other knick-knack you could name, _but nothing substantial. _

"Come ON!" I yelled in frustration, crawling closer to the table and reaching where I couldn't see, grime-covered fingers working in place of my eyes.

Dirt, as suspected, layers of sand and soot, but just as I was going to pull away and give up, I found it.

Small and round, a wooden bead was stuck in the corner between the rocks. _'Afiko's necklace!' _He always set it down on the table before training, sometimes even forgetting down here for days until another monk reminded him it was missing.

My heart soared and the weight that had been resting on my shoulders since I left the infirmary was lessened. Tucking the bead into my palm I kept feeling around, soon locating another, and another, and another!

With a sad smile I backed out from the tiny space and stood up, mindful of the four relics cradled in my hands. Carefully rubbing some off some of the muck, I placed them in my pants pocket, thinking I would be satisfied with them.

But it still felt wrong.

Until of course, my eyes scanned the catastrophe on the other side of the chamber. Nothing over there would be salvageable, I knew that for a fact, anything not crushed would have gone gooey from the water damage.

However, for some indiscernible reason, I was drawn to it.

Covering the distance quickly, my feet getting soggy again and making tiny splashes, I got close enough to touch the avalanche of earth. That's all it was, rocks and mud and pieces of wall, just as I guessed. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right place?

Only when I shuffled sideways I stepped on something hard, something brittle, and it broke with a sickening crack. The thudding in my chest sped up, what was it? Oh Spirits I destroyed something else, _what was it_?

I hopped backwards, looked down, and that thundering in my ears went silent.

It.. it was a _skeletal hand_. An actual _hand_, and I had pulverized half of its fingers.

A bit of forearm peaked out from underneath the boulders, which had to mean that...

This poor person was crushed to death. They never got to say goodbye to their family, to their friends, they never saw the light of another day. They died all alone and in the dark, crushed by a cave in that could have been prevented.

My lungs screamed for air and I realized I had stopped breathing. I inhaled deeply, letting it out with a rush of 'I'msosorry' and a clenching of clammy fists. "I didn't mean to, honest!" I babbled, shaking with overdue panic, and just as I was going to continue my tirade, a glint of gold caught my eye.

And I noticed a ring adorning the fragmented index finger. Fire Nation symbol pressed into the top and inset with the smallest of rubies. It went almost entirely untarnished, gleaming in the firelight, a strip of red cloth framing the wrist.

_'No, no way, not this, anything... any__one__ but him. Please, PLEASE!'_

My head hurt, my vision swam and caused the world to swirl together into a mass of earthy flame, my heart pitter-pattered an uneven beat through my veins.

"No..." I rasped, shaking my head slowly in denial, saliva thick in the back of my mouth. "You... you can't.. there's no way... no... no _you're lying to me again_!"

How could he do that? He promised... he promised me_ no more lies_!

But the longer I stared at those crumbling bones, the more hysterical I became, my lower lip trembling, my eyes welling up. The more I realized that this wasn't a lie, that... that he was gone, he and everyone else I had ever known.

_'He's dead. And by now, Afiko must be too.'_

A wail ripped from my insides and I collapsed, not caring if the front of my clothes became soaked. I buried my face into my arms, curling in on myself, trying to hold the pieces together. Cries tore from my belly, ripping my throat raw, hurting my ears but I didn't care.

"Kuzonkuzonkuzonkuzon," I sobbed, big, heaving sobs that left me with a bigger headache than before.

They echoed all around me, creating a funnel of my own pain in which I couldn't help but cry louder. Maybe if I vocalized it, the agony of claws slashing at my heart, I would stop dying. Maybe if I screamed to the heavens, they could bring him back, they could bring them all back.

It never lessened, and by the time I pulled myself together enough to shut up, I was on the verge of vomiting. My sobs tapered off into whimpers and dry coughs, only when I tried to catch my breath I sucked in muddy water, the taste rotten on my tongue.

That did it. Scrambling to face away from the body and pitching forward on my knees, my stomach emptied itself onto the dank chamber floor, more tears squeezing out from behind my lids.

The acidic taste burned my tongue as I finished, wiping my mouth on my sleeve and gulping back remnants of bile. My vision was blurry with tears and I couldn't believe how weak I was, to cry even after all they taught me.

"K-Kuzon," I whispered, sniffling pitifully. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

I stood up slowly, pushed that sick feeling down, brushed myself off, and turned back to the pile of rubble while biting the inside of my cheek. There was no way I could get him out from under there, not without causing the entire place to collapse.

I wanted to take his ring with me, something to remember him by, but that would have been too horrible to stomach, it would have felt like grave robbing.

_'Can't even give you a proper burial.' _My legs began trembling again. I couldn't dawdle here much longer, Aang would get worried. I considered going back the way I came, but since the hole was already there, why not just go up?

With one last bow to my Firebending master and a double-check that the beads were secure in my pocket, I flew up through the break in the ceiling, pulling my arms tight into my chest to avoid the shards of rock.

I expected to come up surrounded by statues, to be exposed to the sunlight that ought to be pouring in through those great doors, but I wasn't. Instead I was in a different chamber, one I had never seen before.

_'What?' _I spun around in confusion, maybe I was seeing it wrong. _'What? This- no, what!'_

The room was gloomy, lit only by a row of windows on the south wall, and cobwebs were in thickened layers tucked into the corners. It was empty, not one piece of furniture, the only door rotten and falling apart.

My eyes were wide with wonder and confusion. "I never even knew this was here..."

Maybe it was a storage room, maybe it was an older chamber no one had used, but why was it so important to lie to me about it?

That's when I saw the piles of ash on the floor and the remains of thick curtains bordering the windows. _'A record room?' _I thought, the gears slowly turning in my head. _'No.. why lie about records?' _Those drapes would have blocked out all the light, making it seem like that skylight opened into where I thought it did. So I wouldn't question anything.

Upon close inspection I saw that the ends of the drapes were burned off, that there were scorch marks on the walls and floor. A Firebender had done this.

"Kuzon," I whispered, everything clicking into place. "It had to be him!"

He must of run in here when the Fire Army attacked, to make sure they wouldn't get their hands on Airbender secrets. Of course, I didn't know for sure that was what they kept here, but it made sense. Our traditions and ways, our teachings, Kuzon didn't want Sozin getting to them so he incinerated them first. But then... something had to have gone wrong. He could have used too much power, or the floor could have just broken with age, but in the middle of his task the stones no longer supported his weight.

He fell when the weakest spot gave way, and before he could escape through the catacombs, more rocks fell on top of him.

Even when his own nation was fighting against us, when staying on our side would have been the greatest betrayal, he still gave us his life.

I looked up to the ceiling, angling my eyes to dry the tears that started to pool there, and that's when I saw it. Almost invisible, the same colour as the rock itself, worn and camouflaged with the years gone by.

A trap door.

There was a sudden drop in my chest, like my heart just sunk into my stomach and was being eaten away, and a high pitched keening rung in my ears. The floor began to light up in a watery shade, and tendrils of electric blue creeped up the walls, past the ceiling and into the Avatar chamber.

Aang was entering the Avatar State, but why?

_'He has to be in danger!' _I thought, already reaching for the handle above me. _'That's the only reason... unless... unless it's grief instead..'_

That did little to comfort me, grief could wound just as easily as a blade. After yanking on the trap door and failing to open it, I gave up and catapulted straight through it, splinters flying every which way. I landed in the center of a room full of statues that spiraled up into darkness, every eye shining with power.

"Aang?" I called, riding a gust of wind to the entrance, literally flying down the corridor that led outside. My glider was still on Appa, but I never needed the thing much anyway, I just used it to keep up appearances. "AANG?"

The wind stung my cheeks and nose, whistling in my ears, making them all red with cold as I shielded my eyes with my hand, searching for the source of the gale.

_'Down in the bunker...' _That's where it converged, so that's where I headed, vaulting down the steps and rock ledges until my feet slammed into level ground and I set off in a sprint towards the cloth covered building.

My feet slid in the little patches of snow that were strewn about the path, working in league with the winds to upset my balance and I nearly fell face first into the tarp. With my forearm leading into the maelstrom I called out for him again. "AANG?"

Something hit me in the back, dragging me down behind some fallen debris that blocked most of the winds.

"Stay down!" It was Sokka, his head darting back and forth between me and whatever lay beyond our barrier. "Aang saw Gyatso's skeleton, then he just went crazy! Katara's calming him down now!"

"He saw _what_?" I yelled in disbelief and mild horror, also peering over to take a better look at the clearing. Aang was in the center, lifted and surrounded by a sphere of air, his eyes and tattoos radiating that same blue light. "Katara's doing _what_!"

It was true, the Waterbender was there, her hand on his arm, gently pulling him back down to earth whilst in the middle of some speech. "I went through the same thing when I lost my mom." She said, her voice raised to be heard over the whirlwind. "Monk Gyatso and the other Airbenders may be gone, but you still have Amaya, you still have a family. Sokka and I, we're part of your family now."

He drifted back 'till his feet settled on the ground, the glow still strong, however by this time I'd had enough. I marched over there with the full intent to cover him in my embrace.

"Katara and I aren't going to let anything happen to you," Sokka told him softly, placing a hand on my shoulder and moving to stand next to his sister. "Promise."

The blue faded almost instantly, and Aang fell into the Waterbender's arms, looking utterly exhausted as he apologized.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." I told him, kneeling down and rubbing his back, itching to pull him away from Katara's hug and into my own. "This wasn't your fault."

"But Katara was right," He protested sadly, leaning further into the comfort she gave him, the comfort _I _should have been giving him, as was my _duty_. "And if Firebenders found this temple, that means they found the other ones too. Amaya, we really _are_ the last Airbenders."

Hearing him say it like that, his voice so devoid of happiness, I knew I failed. Not only that, but with even him confirming it, the situation became all too real. The Fire Nation murdered every last one of our people, we could have stayed and stopped it but we _didn't_.

Even more troubling, however, was that this happened a _hundred_ years ago. They've had a century to perfect their weapons and their armies, how powerful must they be now?

.:-:.

We stood in front of Avatar Roku's statue, and I was on edge, what if they noticed the gaping hole in the floor near the back? What if they looked down? Then they would want to explore, and how the heck would I explain away the catacombs?

"Everything's packed, you ready to go?" Katara asked, walking up behind us.

Aang didn't seem to hear her as he stared at the stone figure, his eyes full of worry. "How is Roku supposed to help me if I can't talk to him?"

"Maybe you'll find a way." She said reassuringly, sending a grin his way.

"You'll be able to speak to all your past lives eventually," I explained, brushing my bangs out of my eyes and pointing in turn to a few of the other statues. "All it takes is practice, and they'll only want to help you, you'll get it in no time."

"Thanks 'Maya." He smiled softly and turned to the hallway, where a lemur stood holding an armful of fruit.

The lemur ran up to Sokka and dropped the food at his feet, then it dashes towards Aang and begins circling us, though no one else seems to notice it's strange behavior.

My friend chuckled lightly, the mirth returning to his face. "Looks like you made a new friend Sokka."

"Can't talk," The warrior said, rushing to stuff all of the fruits into his mouth at once, making gross slurping noises. "Must eat."

"Yeesh, can't even go a day without food can you?" I laughed, he was going to need to toughen up, food wouldn't be so easy to find all the time.

That lemur stopped its random pacing and scurried up Aang's chest, coming to perch half on his shoulder and half on his head. He reached up and scratched behind its ears, giggling. "Hey little guy."

"So buddy," I started to ask as we all began to walk out of the chamber, taking a moment to pet the lemur as well. "Where do you want to go next?"

Aang shrugged, making the lemur squeal in surprise. "Well, we're going to ride the elephant koi eventually, right?"

I gave him a one-armed hug, drawing him in to lean on me as we walked. "Right."

Once outside Aang and I, along with Appa and the lemur, stood on the ledge that overlooked the vast ruins of the temple. A cool wind blew through the empty scape, sending chills to dance across my spine as I thought of Kuzon, and sent him one last silent prayer.

"You, me, Amaya and Appa," Aang said, his voice holding a solemn ring that was like a blow to my heart. "We're all that's left of this place, we have to stick together. Katara, Sokka," He turned and walked over to them, the lemur on his arm and the hope back in his tone. "Say hello to the newest member of our family."

I lost track of their conversation after that, it seems I was rooted to the spot, looking down at the ground so far below. Gyatso's statue was raised behind me, boring into me the importance of my task, Afiko's beads weighing heavily in my pocket. It would be so hard to protect him now, my best friend wanted to go out into the world, he had his own task to complete as the Avatar.

I just wanted to shield him from the horrors and pain of the outside, like I always had.

"You okay Amaya?" Sokka's hand on my shoulder snapped me out of it, the concern evident in his words and body language.

"Mhmm," I nodded, and I think I was telling the truth. We had everything ahead of us, yes, and a war to face, but we also had each other.

Katara and Aang were already on Appa's back, waiting for us to hurry up and get on. "He named it Momo you know, the lemur."

"Really?" Amusement dripped from my voice as I climbed into the saddle. "After the fruit?" Not surprising at all though, and it made me smile.

Sokka laughed, struggling to get on as well, at least until I pitied his efforts and helped. "Yep!"

Soon enough we had taken off, Aang sitting at the back with me, and we both watched our home recede behind the clouds, disappear into the distance. We were going to be okay, I told myself as I patted his back, before tearing my eyes away from the fading temple just in time to laugh at one of the warrior's bad jokes.

Aang continued to stare, but I knew that was his way of saying goodbye.

We were going to be okay.

* * *

******If you can tell, I pretty much had to guess with the layout of a lot of the temple, so I hope it made sense to you guys. Another thing, does the length of the chapters annoy you guys? Are they ****__****too******** long? On a different note, I was wondering, do you prefer the First Person narrative or the Third Person? I am comfortable writing it both ways, but whichever reads less awkwardly is what I'm striving for here.**

******Please review and tell me what you think! Good or bad, I'm just here to improve after all.**


End file.
